Several top Democrats break with Biden and push back on his reluctance to cancel $50,000 in student-loan debt

Several top Democrats break with Biden and push back on his reluctance to cancel $50,000 in student-loan debt

Several top Democrats pushed back on Wednesday against President Joe Biden's dismissal on Tuesday night of their proposal to forgive up to $50,000 in student loan debt.

Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts released a joint statement defending their plan, and said student-loan forgiveness was a step that both of Biden's predecessors in the White House had taken in the past. 

The pair expressed confidence that the president had the authority to act unilaterally, and argued their proposal would help narrow the racial wealth gap and stimulate the economy. "It's time to act. We will keep fighting," Schumer and Warren said.

Other Democrats criticized Biden and doubled down on their support for major student debt relief. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, a House sponsor of the plan, tweeted that Biden did have the authority to act on his own. "He can and must use it," she said. "The people deserve nothing less."

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York tweeted that Democrats should "keep pushing."

"Who cares what school someone went to?" Ocasio-Cortez wrote. "Entire generations of working class kids were encouraged to go into more debt under the guise of elitism. This is wrong. Nowhere does it say we must trade-off early