Student loan payment pause to end soon

The wide-reaching debt ceiling deal approved by Congress, and signed by President Joe Biden, last week includes a provision that prevents the Biden administration from extending the pause on federal student loan repayments. For federal student loan borrowers, that means they may have to restart payments in a few months. According to the 99-page bill, repayments will resume 60 days after June 30, which is Aug. 29.

The pause, first put in place in March 2020, as part of the COVID-19 national emergency, by former President Donald Trump, “has been a lifeline for working families that have struggled to get their financial footing as we come out of this once-in-a-century pandemic. Now, his fellow Republicans in Congress have sought to end that pause. 

While there are options for people who cannot afford their monthly payments, they can be difficult to access because they require identifying and contacting the private financial services companies the government hires to manage student loans. 

The pause in student loan payments is “wildly popular public policy,” Pierce said. But in an effort to make a deal on lifting the debt limit and avoid a   catastrophic default, the pause was put on the chopping block.
 
The Senate on Thursday night went a step further, voting to advance a Republican measure overturning a separate student loan cancellation plan from President Biden, which offered up to $20,000 in federal student loan relief for borrowers who qualified. The White House is expected to veto that measure.