“Assuming 75 percent of people take this, the president’s student loan cancellation plan, and you look at the average cash flow of that, it’s going to be about $24 billion a year,” he said. say on “Don Lemon Tonight.” .”
Pressed by Lemon about whether the White House will release a detailed cost estimate, Jean-Pierre said they will share more details once they see how many Americans are taking advantage of the plan.
At a news conference Thursday, Jean-Pierre continued to insist that the plan to cancel thousands of dollars in federal student loan debt for millions of Americans “should be paid for in full because of the work that has been done done this president with the economy”.
Asked specifically if the administration had a better idea of the program’s total price tag, Jean-Pierre began her response by saying that “the president’s record on fiscal responsibility is unmatched” before detailing a list of his economic accomplishments. But he did not provide an estimate of how much the plan could cost during the briefing.
“All of this in terms of cost will also depend on how many canceled loans were expected to be repaid, it will depend on how many borrowers take advantage of this opportunity before we get any real sense,” he said.
Throughout the briefing, the press secretary was pressed on the numbers. He stated that the administration did not believe the measure would add to the deficit, because of the “$1.7 trillion … we have done a good job of reducing the deficit,” referring to an administration projection of how much it will be the federal deficit. will be reduced in fiscal year 2022, and the “$50 billion annually will return” to the Treasury once student loan payments begin in December.
He claimed the Treasury was “getting zero for the last two years” as repayments stopped, but on Wednesday National Economic Council Deputy Director Bharat Ramamurti said borrowers were still paying about $2 billion a year. month during the break, in comparison. to $6 billion per month typically.
The White House offered a more pointed defense of its student loan cancellation plan on Twitter, calling out GOP critics that Paycheck Protection Program loans have been forgiven.
“Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene had $183,504 in PPP loans,” said a White House tweet in response to the Georgia Republican’s criticism of Biden’s plan. “Congressman Matt Gaetz had $482,321 in forgiven PPP loans,” read another in response to similar complaints from the Florida lawmaker.
The White House tweeted similar responses to criticism from Republican Reps. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania, Vern Buchanan of Florida, and Markwayne Mullin and Kevin Hern of Oklahoma.
Asked Thursday if the administration would eventually release a cost estimate, Jean-Pierre said “the Department of Education will take the lead.”
When asked why the president waited so long to make his decision to cancel the debt, he said Biden “wanted to do it in a fiscally balanced way. And there was this legal review… We wanted to ensure that the legal review was done.”
But pressed on how it could be fiscally responsible without an estimate of public costs and without specification of how the plan would be paid for or who would pay for it, Jean-Pierre insisted the administration “does not see this as irresponsible.”
“We don’t see it as irresponsible,” he said. “We see this as a fiscally responsible and balanced approach to doing it. I remember people saying, ‘Why don’t you do $50,000?'” We don’t want to do that because we want to make sure we do it in a fiscally responsible way. Again, not pleasing everybody, but making sure we deliver on that promise, but we also do it in a smart and fiscally responsible way.”
Ramamurti had offered further explanation to CNN’s Phil Mattingly on Wednesday about the difficulty of providing a top-line number.
He said without knowing how many borrowers sign up, it would be difficult to know the total cost. “That plays a big part in what the cost will be,” he said.
But beyond that, he said other factors made it difficult to provide a firm number. He said there are different estimates of delinquency rates, which would affect the total figure. He added that providing relief would also generate additional tax revenue if beneficiaries start small businesses or buy homes.
This story was updated with additional information on Thursday.
CNN’s Sam Fossum and Paul LeBlanc contributed to this report.