Confronted by a Fox News producer with the fact that the government has yet to provide concrete information regarding where the money will come from, Harris did not even try to give a possible answer to the question.
"Well, let's start with this. First of all, a lot of the same people who are criticizing what we rightly did in following through on a commitment that we made to forgive student loan debt are the same people who voted for a tax cut for the richest Americans," Harris announced.
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"So, when we look at who is benefiting from this, 90% of the people who are going to benefit from student loan forgiveness make under $75,000 a year," the vice president went on. "And that debt has been why they cannot start a family, buy a home and pursue their piece of the American dream."
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Harris, who was making an appearance for the Artemis 1 launch, which ended up being postponed, then fielded a question from another reporter regarding a space-related matter.
< p>President Biden plans to cancel $10,000 in federal student loans for anyone making fewer than $125,000 or $250,000 for married couples. The number goes up to $20,000 of debt cancellation for Pell Grant recipients. Some estimates calculate the program's cost to be upward of $500 billion. TRUMP READY TO DEBATE BIDEN 'ANYWHERE, ANYTIME, ANYPLACE,' BUT WILL IT HAPPEN?
Administration officials have yet to explain how the proposal will be paid for in the long term. However, Bharat Ramamurti, deputy director of the National Economic Council, has argued that the plan is "fully paid for" by the amount of deficit reduction the administration is projecting for the year. Since the current plan calls for the government to forgive the debt, that means taxpayers are probably on the hook for much of the principal and interest dumped on top of the nearly $31 trillion in existing U.S. debt.
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The White House is extending a pause on student loan payments through the end of the year. Coinciding with the announcement is a new Education Department proposal that permits borrowers to cap undergraduate loan repayment at 5% of their monthly income, adding to the cost to taxpayers of the handout.
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On Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, Director of the Domestic Policy Council Susan Rice, and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council Bharat Ramamurti struggled last week with questions regarding how the plan would be paid for and what it would cost.
Returning to the briefing room Friday, Ramamurti estimated that the student loan program would cost roughly $240 billion if 75 percent of borrowers take advantage.
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