Prominent Democrats on Tuesday urged President Joe Biden to extend the federal student loan payments and interest accumulation moratorium past the Sept. 30 deadline and to cancel up to $50,000 in federal student loans per borrower.

In March 2020, former President Donald Trump signed an order to pause debt payment and interest accrual for the roughly 43 million Americans with federal student debt. Since taking office, Biden has issued two such pauses.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., asked Biden to relieve some of the $1.7 trillion in student debt. During the 2020 presidential campaign, Biden called on Congress to cancel $10,000 of student loans due to the pandemic.

“We urge the president to act with urgency, failure to act would be unconscionable, would undermine our economic recovery,” Pressley told reporters.

At a CNN town hall in February, Biden said he"will not make that happen," when asked about eliminating $50,000 in student debt. CNBC noted that Biden has said that "forgiving up to $50,000 per person in debt could benefit higher earners who received advanced degrees."

A recent survey by Student Debt Crisis found that 75% of borrowers report the pause in payments is critical to their financial well-being.

Schumer, Warren and Pressley argue that Biden can forgive federal debt without the approval of Congress. At the CNN town hall in February, Biden said he was "prepared to write off the $10,000 debt but not $50 [thousand] because I don't think I have the authority to do it."

In June, Biden canceled up to $1.5 billion in student debt for those who were victims of scam colleges like ITT Technical Insitute.