WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is facing increasing pressure from Democrats to extend a pandemic-related pause to student loan repayment, pitting the White House between its restless liberal base and a growing effort from the administration to signal that life is returning to normal after nearly two years of emergency measures.
Biden has twice given an extension. Unless he is persuaded to issue another extension, federal student loan repayments will resume after the president’s current order expires on Jan. 31.
Nationally, 45.7 million borrowers have $1.6 trillion of student loan debt, and 41 million of them have taken advantage of the pandemic pause on repayments, according to an Education Department spokesperson.
