Biden to Wipeout Student Debt for 4 Million

(ConservativeSense.com) – President Biden has pledged to ease student loan pressures by canceling interest on student loans, impacting more than 20 million Americans. He explained the plan during a trip to Madison, Wisconsin, outlining who it is designed to help and to what extent. Analysts say it is the latest move by the Biden administration to gain the youth vote after the Supreme Court blocked previous attempts to cancel student loans.

The policy will wipe out accrued interest up to the value of $20,000 for borrowers currently earning less than $120,000. Additionally, students who began repaying undergraduate loans before July 2005, or postgraduate loans before July 2000, will be forgiven the remainder of their debt. Borrowers who are in financial hardship may also see their debts canceled.

The President said the plans are good for the US economy and “life-changing” for individuals. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters the proposals would take effect as early as this fall, but commentators caution that Republicans may mount legal challenges, emboldened by the Supreme Court’s decision to block similar plans last year. The Court ruled that the President did not have the authority to wipe out billions of dollars of debt, including under regulations aimed at post-pandemic relief.

Chief Justice John Roberts accused the White House of “seizing the power of the legislature,” while dissenting Justices accused the majority of making policy decisions outside its remit. Nevertheless, Republicans argued that college students’ education risks being subsidized by working Americans via taxation—an argument repeated by GOP lawmakers following the latest announcement.

Republican Senator Bill Cassidy said Biden’s plan would transfer the debt onto others. He described the policy as an “unfair ploy” to buy votes while doing nothing to address the high cost of college education.

In March, a group of GOP states filed a lawsuit to stop another of President Biden’s loan forgiveness schemes, SAVE, which was not examined by the Supreme Court. Announced in 2022, SAVE sought to reduce monthly repayments.