President elect Joe biden told newspaper columnists on Wednesday that it was “unlikely” to pursue a plan pushed by Sens. Chuck schumer (DN.Y.) and Elizabeth warren (D-Mass.) To unilaterally wipe out billions of dollars in student loan debt.

Schumer, the Democratic Senate leader, had teamed up with Warren, a progressive rival turned ally of Biden, to pressure Biden on a proposal to eliminate up to $ 50,000 in student loan debt per borrower.

“Arguably the president may have the executive power to write off up to $ 50,000 in student debt,” Biden told a group of newspaper columnists, according to the Washington Post. “Well, I think that’s pretty questionable. I’m not sure of it. I probably wouldn’t do that.

Biden contrasted his stance on student debt with his willingness to use the president’s executive powers to undo several actions of the outgoing Trump administration, including protecting Dreamers and joining the Paris climate accord. But he also said he was unlikely to continue the sweeping executive actions that some progressive groups have called for.

“I have spent most of my career arguing against the Imperial Presidency,” Biden continued. “We have three equal branches of government. I am convinced that there are a number of areas which are of such importance that they cross partisan lines.

Schumer and Warren launched their call for unilateral action on student debt in September, introducing a resolution urging the next president to write off up to $ 50,000 in debt per borrower. The duo argued that this step could help reinvigorate the coronavirus-stricken economy and narrow the racial wealth gap.

The plan received renewed attention after the November election when it became clear Democrats would either be in the minority or exercise control with just 50 seats in the next Senate.

Biden did not dispute the seriousness of the student loan crisis. During the campaign, he said he wanted to pass a law canceling a debt of $ 10,000 per person and eliminating all undergraduate student debt for people who earn less than $ 125,000 a year and attend colleges. and public or historically black universities. He also supported the expansion of income-based repayment programs and the fixing and expansion of loan cancellation programs for people in public service jobs.

“Young people are weighed down by the burden of student debt,” Biden said Wednesday, introducing Miguel Cardona, his choice for education secretary.

But the president-elect’s comments to the newspaper’s columnists indicate that he is questioning the executive power to act unilaterally on student debt, even though the legislation grants the Secretary of Education broad powers over student loans. The Trump administration has used these powers to suspend interest and student loan payments during the coronavirus pandemic.

While Schumer and Warren led the campaign for a cancellation of $ 50,000 per borrower, the general idea of ​​canceling some student debt has the support of all of the Democratic Party, including major teachers’ unions and of the NAACP.

representative from South Carolina James clyburn, the Democratic House Whip who is arguably Biden’s most powerful ally in Congress, told the New York Times earlier this month, Biden is expected to turn to executive action on the issue if the collaboration with Congress fails.

“Let them continue,” Clyburn said, referring to probable Republican lawsuits over such a plan. “They are not the only ones who can employ lawyers.