Warren unveils $640 billion college debt forgiveness plan


April 23, 2019 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C.

Democrat Elizabeth Warren is proposing the elimination of existing student loan debt for millions of Americans, part of a sweeping set of education funding proposals announced as she and other presidential candidates seek to differentiate themselves in a sprawling field.

The Massachusetts senator says the proposal unveiled Monday would eliminate almost all student loan debt for 42 million Americans, canceling $50,000 in debt for each person with household income under $100,000. According to Warren’s description of the plan in a piece to be posted on Medium, the debt-cancellation proposal would create a one-time cost to the federal government of $640 billion.

Many in the growing field of Democratic candidates have proposed reforming the nation’s student-loan programs, including dramatic restructuring of existing refinancing structures, but Warren appears to be the first to propose flat-out debt cancellation. Warren and others in the field, including Sens. Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand and Kamala Harris, are backing the Debt-Free College Act, a bill that would cover all costs for students attending a public college without necessitating loans.

Among Warren’s other proposals is elimination of tuition and fees for two- and four-year public college degree programs, as well as a $100 billion investment in Pell Grants, a federal aid program that requires no payback.

Meanwhile, Warren is doubling down on her call to impeach President Donald Trump in the wake of the release of the redacted Mueller report and is calling on every lawmaker in the House and Senate to vote on the president’s fate.

The 2020 Democratic presidential candidate said Monday at a CNN town hall in New Hampshire: “If there are people in the House and the Senate who want to say that’s what a president can do when the president is being investigated for his own wrongdoings or when a foreign government attacks our country, then they should have to take that vote and live with it.”