, at minimum. Jarrett isn't holding out hope that the plan will come to fruition anytime soon.
"I don't have any hope. I don't think it's enough," Jarrett said."I don't think anyone in power really fully grasps what student debt is doing to the country in general. And some vague speech about how they're going to start exploring this new route, it just does nothing for me. It doesn't feel like he's being anywhere near as proactive as I think we need him to be on this issue.
Some Democratic lawmakers are also pushing Biden to go further on relief. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, for example,Biden on CNN to pause interest during the 12-month"on-ramp" period, and Rep. Ro Khanna has called on Biden to extend the student-loan payment pause until borrowers get broad relief, even though the debt-ceiling bill Biden recently signed into law codified the end of the payment pause.
"I think everything that Biden's shown in his actions is that he isn't really prepared or willing to make a major step to relieve people's issues," Jarrett said. "The $10,000 or $20,000 initial debt forgiveness wasn't anywhere near enough for me," he added."And I know it's not anywhere near enough for millions and millions of people. It just signals to me that he's not willing to actually address the issue because I don't think his previous plan adequately addressed the issue. And I certainly don't think that what he's doing now is going to address the issue either.