The Department of Education (ED) is reportedly pushing the White House to issue another extension on the current pause in place on student loan payments and interest accrual for borrowers with federally-held student loans, according to Politico.
Citing sources familiar with the internal discussions, Politico reports ED officials are recommending the White House extend the relief to borrowers one more time, through at least January 2022. The current payment and interest accrual pause has been in place since March 2020 at the onset of the pandemic and has been extended four times, by both former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden.
The relief for borrowers is currently set to expire at the end of September, but several top Democrats have been pushing Biden to issue another extension.
Notably, ED officials have not yet instructed the loan servicing companies tasked with handling collections about whether they should plan to resume their work in October, Politico reports.
Neither ED, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, nor the White House have announced their intentions regarding an extension of the payment pause, but pressure has been growing for weeks.