The Biden administration is reportedly crafting a plan that would see $10,000 of student debt erased, according to reports.
While members of the far-left have begged President Joe Biden to do something about student loan debt since taking office, little has been done. This should come as no surprise, as Biden made it abundantly clear at the beginning of his presidency that he would not cancel student loan debt in a significant way. During a town hall event in February 2021, Biden admitted that he was not keen on the larger figure, indicating that he was not willing to unilaterally cancel up to $50,000 in student loan debt per borrower. His remarks prompted a brief scramble from the White House, which clarified that Biden was simply open to doing so via other avenues:
But in the past year, far-left politicians — including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Ro Khanna (D-CA), and more have continued to demand the administration take action. Several gathered for a rally last month:
One month later, there are rumblings of the administration offering a plan to cancel $10,000 in student loan debt, “three people with knowledge of the matter said,” according to the Washington Post:
President Biden had hoped to make the announcement as soon as this weekend at the University of Delaware commencement, the people said, but that timing has changed after the massacre Tuesday in Texas.
The White House’s latest plans called for limiting debt forgiveness to Americans who earned less than $150,000 in the previous year, or less than $300,000 for married couples filing jointly, two of the people said.
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The people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the deliberations, cautioned that some details of these plans could change before the White House makes the decision official.
The report follows Biden telling members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in a private meeting last month that he is open to canceling student loan debt.
Currently, Biden has only opted to extend the federal pause on student loan payments after pressure from members of his own party. Payments are currently slated to resume in August.
While the final plan remains unclear, the timing is of note, coming mere months ahead of the midterm elections as the Democrats’ party leader continues to see abysmal polling numbers as the country experiences inflation and record-high gas prices with no immediate relief in sight.