• Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told lawmakers the student-loan payment pause "could be" extended.
  • He said borrowers will get "ample notice" on whatever decision the department makes.
  • In the past, borrowers have gotten little notice on payment pause extensions.

Uncertainty continues to loom for millions of student-loan borrowers.

During a Senate subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen asked Education Secretary Miguel Cardona for an update on whether federal borrowers should plan to resume paying off their debt on September 1, which is when the current student-loan payment pause is set to expire. Cardona said that "we recognize that while the economy has improved, many Americans are still struggling to make ends meet."

"I don't have any information now to share with you about when it would end…" Cardona added, referring to the student-loan payment pause. "I know we have a date, and it could be that it's extended. Or it could be that it starts there. But what I will say is that our borrowers will have ample notice. And we'll communicate that with you as well."

Cardona did not specify what he meant by "ample notice," but in the past, millions of federal borrowers have been given little heads up regarding the payment pause extensions. With the most recent one, when payments were set to resume on May 1, borrowers were notified of the additional extension on April 5, less than a month in advance.

Now, with both a student-loan payment pause extension and broad student-loan relief on the table, there's a lot of information borrowers don't yet have. Recent reports have suggested Biden is considering $10,000 in relief for borrowers making under $150,000 a year, and the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that decision will likely not be made until July or August, closer to when payments are set to resume.

In April, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called out the Education Department for the lack of notice on student-loan repayment.

"I think some folks read these extensions as savvy politics, but I don't think those folks understand the panic and disorder it causes people to get so close to these deadlines just to extend the uncertainty," Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter in April. "It doesn't have the affect people think it does."

Cardona also made clear that even if another extension is to come, borrowers should still expect to begin making payments on their debt again "at some point." For now, many Democratic lawmakers want to ensure Biden delivers on broad relief, and soon.

"If @POTUS cancels student debt, millions of hardworking Americans will get the chance to start their own businesses, buy their first homes, and save for retirement," Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote on Twitter. "Let's get this done."

Read the original article on Business Insider