Two NAACP leaders have written to President Joe Biden, sharing their disappointment over the administration’s decision to restart federal student loan payments later this year.
The resumption of pandemic-paused loan payments is a setback for Black Americans and ignores the racial wealth gap, Wisdom Cole, the NAACP’s national director of youth and college, and Derrick Johnson, the president of the organization, said in the letter reported by NBC News.
Student loan payments were paused in 2020 due to the pandemic while Donald Trump was president, and extended several times by Biden. The debt ceiling deal Biden reached with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) bars further extensions on payments or interest.
The White House has confirmed interest will resume on Sept. 1 and payments will be due a month later.
Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan was not affected by the debt deal, despite Republican demands.
The NAACP letter pointed out that Black borrowers face a disproportionate chance of default.
“We appreciate all that went into debt ceiling negotiations,” Cole and Johnson wrote. “However, we are disappointed that the needs of Black communities have suffered from the negotiated agreement that will erode economic progress for Black Americans.”
White House spokesperson Abdullah Hasan told NBC News that the administration had already announced the student loan payment pause would end in August.
“This bipartisan budget agreement makes no changes to that plan,” Hasan said, adding that the president understands how student debt burdens millions of Black Americans.
Biden last summer unveiled a relief plan that would write off up to $20,000 in debt from student borrowers making up to $125,000. He claimed authority to provide debt relief during the COVID-19 national emergency.
Republicans sued to block the plan and their case is now being evaluated by the Supreme Court.
“Should the Supreme Court fail to uphold student debt relief, Black America demands that your Administration pursue all legal pathways to make a permanent solution that respects the contributions of student loan borrowers, makes higher education more accessible and affordable and ends the cycle of pushing Black borrowers into poverty as they seek to share in the opportunities afforded by this nation,” Cole and Johnson wrote.
During oral arguments in February, at least five of the six conservative Supreme Court justices appeared prepared to void the plan, which would benefit over 40 million Americans. A decision is expected by the end of this month.