— The deal President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached to raise the debt ceiling earlier this month cemented into law the termination of the payment pause that’s been in place since March 2020. — But the text of the deal, the Fiscal Responsibility Act, left borrowers with something of a mathematical word problem on the timing: “Sixty days after June 30, 2023,” the law says, the suspension of student loan payments and interest “shall cease to be effective.” — That language somewhat mirrors the administration’s previously-announced policy of resuming payments 60 days after either the Supreme Court rules on its sweeping student debt cancellation program or June 30, whichever comes first. — The provision has sparked some confusion over precisely when borrowers would face interest charges and student loan bills. A range of lawmakers and press reports have described the policy as ending the payment pause on slightly different days. — The difference of a few days when it comes to interest accrual on the massive federal student loan portfolio amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars for borrowers. The Education Department has estimated that the pause saves borrowers approximately $5 billion in interest each month, so that’s roughly $167 million of interest that typically accrues each day. — The Biden administration’s confirmation that interest will now resume Sept. 1 and payments in October is consistent with what POLITICO previously reported the administration had been planning before the debt ceiling deal. — Looming over the restart of payments is whether the Supreme Court will in the coming weeks allow the Biden administration to move forward with its plan to cancel up to $10,000 or $20,000 of debt for tens of millions of borrowers. Many progressives blasted the administration’s agreement with Republicans to codify the end of the payment pause into the debt ceiling deal. They’re worried that the administration has locked itself into restarting payments regardless of whether tens of millions will receive debt relief after the Supreme Court’s ruling. — Is there any more leeway? An Education Department spokesperson described the latest debt ceiling law as “preventing further extensions of the payment pause.” White House officials have described the agreement as a relatively narrow one, noting that it ends only the current payment pause. They’ve noted, for example, that it would not prevent the Education Department from pausing payments in response to future national emergencies or if it’s otherwise justified under existing law. — Education Department officials are looking at ways to ease borrowers back into repayment, including offering a grace period for the first several months in which borrowers wouldn’t be penalized for missing required payments, though interest would continue to add up. The department also says its plans to proactively reach out to borrowers who it identifies as being at high risk for delinquency. — “In spite of our opponents’ best efforts to sabotage our work to support student borrowers, we are fully committed to helping borrowers successfully navigate the return to repayment with the pandemic now behind us,” the Education Department spokesperson said. IT’S MONDAY, JUNE 12. WELCOME TO MORNING EDUCATION. Please send tips and feedback to the POLITICO education team: Michael Stratford (mstratford@politico.com), Mackenzie Wilkes (mwilkes@politico.com), Juan Perez Jr. (jperez@politico.com) and Bianca Quilantan (bquilantan@politico.com). Follow us on Twitter: @Morning_Edu and @POLITICOPro.
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