Cardona: Loan Plan ‘Based on the Pandemic’ that ‘Was a National Emergency’

On Tuesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona discussed the legal battle over the Biden administration’s student loan debt program in front of the Supreme court and argued that the plan is “pandemic-related relief” that is “based on the pandemic” and the pandemic “was a national emergency” that created economic instability.

Cardona said, “We feel confident we have the authority to provide targeted relief to over 40 million Americans who need a little bit of help getting back on their feet after the economic impact of the pandemic on their lives.” And that the relief is “based on the pandemic. We know that after national emergencies when loan payments are paused, when it’s time to restart the loans, there [are] up to 20 times the amount of defaults that you would normally have. We want to prevent this. … This is pandemic-related relief that millions of Americans need, similar to what the small business loan cancellations were a couple of years ago, to help small businesses stay on their feet as a result of the pandemic.”

He added, “The pandemic was a national emergency that provided major economic instability in so many people. We’re trying to help over 40 million of those people. They’re waiting, and unfortunately, we have some, some who’ve even benefited from debt relief in their past, are talking against this plan that is aimed toward regular, blue-collar Americans, who just want to get back on their feet.”

During another interview on Tuesday with CNN, Cardona maintained, “I’m glad our schools are resuming and things are — we’re managing better, it doesn’t mean COVID is gone, it just means that we’re managing it better,” and “the economic impact of the pandemic is still real.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett