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It's been two years since the World Health Organization declared a COVID-19 global pandemic and nearly that long since the federal government put student loans on hold.
世界卫生组织宣布新冠病毒全球疫情已经两年了，联邦政府暂停学生贷款也差不多有两年了。
Which was supposed to be a reprieve for people who were paying off those loans.
对那些正在偿还贷款的人来说，这应该是一种暂时解救。
The payments were supposed to start up again on the 1 of May, but a recent email from the U.S. Department of Education has thrown that deadline into doubt.
支付本应在5月1日重新开始，但美国教育部最近的一封电子邮件对这一期限提出了质疑。
Let's find out more with NPR's education correspondent Cory Turner.
让我们跟随NPR的教育记者科里·特纳来了解更多相关信息。
Cory, there are more than 40 million Americans with federal student loans.
科里，有4000多万美国人背负着联邦学生贷款。
What can you tell us about this email and what it means for them?
关于这封邮件，你能告诉我们什么? 以及这对他们意味着什么?
Yeah, so this internal email was sent by the ed department to representatives of the government's big student loan servicers.
这封内部邮件是教育部发给政府大型学生贷款服务机构的代表的。
So these are the companies that actually deal with borrowers, manage their payments.
这些公司实际上与借款人打交道，管理他们的还款。
And the email said, don't reach out to borrowers about the fact that they are supposed to start repaying their loans in May.
邮件还说，不要向借款人透露他们应该在5月份开始偿还贷款的事实。
Don't send any heads-up, no billing statements, no reminders.
不要发送任何警告，不要发送账单，不要发送提醒。
The email was obtained by NPR, first reported by Politico.
这封邮件是由NPR获得的，最早由Politico报道。
Now, I need to be clear here - it did not say explicitly that this payment moratorium would be extended.
现在，我需要在这里说清楚——邮件并没有明确说延期付款将会延长。
And when I reached out, neither the ed department nor the White House would confirm an extension.
当我联系他们时，教育部和白宫都不愿确认延期付款。
But it is not a stretch to say this email means an extension is possible, if not likely, because the department obviously has a legal obligation to communicate with borrowers multiple times before payments can resume, and it is simply running out of time.
但是，如果说这封电子邮件意味着延期是可能的（如果不太可能的话），那也不夸张，因为教育部显然有法律义务在恢复还款之前与借款人多次沟通，而时间已经不多了。
And for anyone, I mean, that's got to feel like at least a sigh of relief maybe for at least a little while.
对任何人来说，这至少会让人感觉如释重负，也许至少会有一段时间。
So do we have any idea why this email went out and what's happening behind the scenes?
那么，我们知道这封邮件为什么会被发送出去以及幕后发生了什么吗?
Yeah, I think there is lingering concern about restarting loan payments with inflation as high as it is.
我认为在通货膨胀如此之高的情况下，人们对重新开始偿还贷款的担忧挥之不去。
But I think it's also pretty clear, that the White House is still grappling with what to do overall about student loans.
但我认为也很清楚，白宫仍在努力解决学生贷款的整体问题。
You got to remember, you know, many in President Biden's own party are really frustrated with him because he campaigned on canceling at least $10,000 in debt per borrower, something he hasn't done.
你要记住，拜登总统自己党内的许多人对他非常失望，因为他在竞选中提出取消每个借贷者至少1万美元的债务，而他并没有这么做。
So liberal Democrats in Congress, including Senators Elizabeth Warren and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, have been pushing Biden to cancel student debt.
因此，包括参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦和多数党领袖查克·舒默在内的国会自由派民主党人一直在敦促拜登取消学生债务。
A few days before this ed department email went out, the White House chief of staff, Ron Klain, appeared on the podcast "Pod Save America," and Klain promised clarity.
在这封教育部电子邮件发出的几天前，白宫幕僚长罗恩·克莱恩出现在播客“Pod拯救美国”上，克莱恩承诺澄清此事。
He said Biden would either make a decision once and for all about cancellation before this moratorium ends in May, or Klain said Biden will extend the moratorium again.
他表示，拜登要么将在5月这项延期付款政策结束之前做出彻底取消的决定，要么克莱恩说拜登将再次延长延期还款。
It's also worth remembering, though, this payment moratorium has already been extended several times by both the Biden and Trump administrations.
不过，值得记住的是，拜登和特朗普政府已经多次延期支付。
So ultimately, this email telling servicers to hold off is really the department's way of trying not to confuse borrowers any more than they already are.
所以归根结底，这封邮件告诉服务人员要推迟还款，这实际上是该部门的一种方式，试图不让借款人比现在更困惑。
OK, so what should the tens of millions of borrowers who still need to pay off their student loans plan for?
好吧，那么数以千万计仍需偿还学生贷款的借款人该怎么办呢?
Well, for the moment, they should still assume that they're going to need to start repaying their loans in May.
就目前而言，他们还是应该假设他们需要在5月份开始偿还贷款。
I think that's really important until something officially changes.
我觉得这很重要，除非官方有所改变。
The challenge now for Biden, though, is that May return to repayment is really close to November's midterm elections.
不过，拜登现在面临的挑战是，5月还款的时间离11月的中期选举真的很近。
You know, the White House is in a bind.
你知道，白宫现在进退两难。
Republicans are pushing back hard, saying, you know, the pause was bipartisan when it started, but hiring is booming now.
共和党人对此进行了猛烈回击，他们说，暂停一开始是两党合作的结果，但现在就业增长迅速。
Not collecting on these loans has cost the government a lot of money.
不收回这些贷款使政府损失了一大笔钱。
But it also doesn't take a political genius to know that for Biden and Democrats, there is very little political upside in asking tens of millions of borrowers to restart their student loan payments just a few months before they go to the polls.
但是，对拜登和民主党人来说，在投票前几个月要求数千万借款人重新开始偿还学生贷款，并没有什么政治上的好处，这一点无需是政治天才就能知道。
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