On Monday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “The Story,” White House Council of Economic Advisers member Jared Bernstein responded to a question on how the White House can say the coronavirus pandemic is an emergency to legally justify the Biden administration’s student loan plan when the administration has lifted Title 42 and CDC restrictions have been relaxed by saying that “all I’m telling you is that the legal authority to grant debt relief exists” under the Heroes Act.
Host Martha MacCallum asked, [relevant exchange begins around 4:00] “The Heroes Act was created after 9/11 to help the military with debts that they had after September 11, right? It’s an emergency authority. So, what emergency authority is this student loan debt relief coming from?”
Bernstein responded, “Now this is a good question. This is a good question. Because it’s obviously not 9/11. It’s the pandemic. So, what the legislation allows us to do, as long as the pandemic emergency is still upon the land, based on the type of financial hardship that we believe will be invoked, particularly by restarting payments that haven’t been made for a couple of years under the debt pause — of course, that was very much part of the agenda here, one that predated this president — once we engage in restart, we know double-digit percentages of student loan borrowers are defaulting. The risk of default goes way up and it goes especially up for Pell Grant –.”
MacCallum then cut in to say, “But we’re not in the emergency anymore.”
Bernstein continued that default risk increases significantly for Pell Grant recipients.
MacCallum then asked, “I just think that people do question the authority of using the Heroes Act and using pandemic emergency. You’ve lifted Title 42 and the CDC restrictions are largely gone. But now you’re going to tell us that there’s an emergency that requires these individuals who can’t pay the money back to basically be under a Heroes Act? That’s a tough thing for a lot of people to understand.”
Bernstein responded, “Actually, all I’m telling you is that the legal authority to grant debt relief exists under this legislation –.”
MacCallum cut in to state, “That may be challenged.”
Bernstein continued, “I think that was your question. And I think I gave you, I hope, a fulsome answer.”
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