President Joe Biden said Monday that more than 30 million borrowers will see “life-changing” relief from his new plan to ease their student loan debt burden, a new attempt by the Democratic president to follow through on a promise campaign that could shore up his position with younger voters.
He detailed the initiative, which has been in the works for months, during a trip to Wisconsin, one of the few battleground states that could decide the outcome of Biden’s likely November rematch with Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee.
Biden said he wanted to “give everyone a fair chance” and the “freedom to chase their dreams” as he lamented the rising costs of higher education.
“Even when they work hard and pay off their student loans, their debt goes up, not down,” he said. “Too many people feel the tension and stress, wondering if they can get married, have their first child, start a family, because even if they can make it, they still have this crushing debt.”
Biden’s trip, which included a stop at a fundraiser in Chicago on the way back to Washington, comes a week after the primary election in Wisconsin highlighted his political weaknesses as he prepares for the general election.
More than 48,000 Democratic voters chose “uneducated” over Biden, more than double his narrow margin of victory in the state in 2020.
Trump also saw a significant number of defections during the state primaries, with nearly 119,000 Republicans voting for someone other than him.
But Biden’s results, which echoed similar protest votes in states like Michigan and Minnesota, rattled Democrats who are eager to consolidate the coalition that catapulted him to the White House.
A critical fracture was the war between Israel and Hamas. Younger voters are more likely to disapprove of Biden’s enduring support for the Israeli military operation in Gaza, which has caused heavy casualties among Palestinian civilians.
Concerns about the war have spread throughout the Madison area, said Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan, who represents the city. Pocan said he was “surprised to see the intensity of the issue” from voters of all ages, and wanted Biden to be aware of it.
“I just want to make sure he knows that if we have a problem, this could be the problem in Wisconsin,” Pocan said.
Some young voters have been impatient with Biden’s attempts to cancel student loan debt. The Supreme Court last year thwarted his first attempt to forgive hundreds of billions of dollars in loans, a decision Biden called a “mistake.”
Since then, the White House has pursued debt relief through other targeted initiatives, including those for public service workers and low-income borrowers. Administration officials said they canceled $144 billion in student loans for nearly 4 million Americans.
At the same time, the Education Department has been working on a broader plan to replace Biden’s original pledge. Monday’s announcement was an opportunity to energize young voters whose support Biden will need to defeat Trump in November.
Vice President Kamala Harris traveled Monday to Pennsylvania, another battleground state, to promote debt relief in a meeting with Philadelphia city and school workers.
“You shouldn’t have to decide whether to serve or be able to pay your bills,” he said.
Republicans have said Biden’s plan shifts the financial burden of college tuition onto taxpayers who didn’t take out loans to attend school, and Kris Kobach, the Republican attorney general in Kansas, accused him of trying to distort the law “beyond recognition”.
The Job Creators Network, a conservative advocacy group that challenged Biden’s original plan, is also considering legal action. The organization is backed by Bernie Marcus, a Republican donor who will also host a fundraiser for Trump in Atlanta on Wednesday. Two years ago, Trump described Biden’s debt relief initiative as a “money grab to help the election.”
Biden’s new plan would extend federal student loan relief to five new categories of borrowers through the Higher Education Act, which administration officials say puts it on stronger legal footing than the sweeping proposal that was rejected by a the court’s 6-3 majority last year.
The plan is smaller and more targeted than Biden’s original plan, which would have canceled up to $20,000 in loans for more than 40 million borrowers. The new plan would cancel some or all federal student loans for more than 30 million Americans, the White House said. The Department of Education plans to release a formal proposal in the coming months, with plans to begin implementing parts of the plan as early as this fall.
The plan’s most far-reaching benefit would cancel up to $20,000 in interest for borrowers who have seen their balance grow beyond the original amount due to what Biden has described as “out-of-control” interest. This part of the plan would forgive at least some of the unpaid interest for about 25 million borrowers, including 23 million who would see all interest canceled, according to the White House.
Another 2 million borrowers would have their loans automatically canceled because they qualify but have not applied for other forgiveness programs, such as public service loan forgiveness.
Borrowers who have repaid their undergraduate student loans for at least 20 years would be eligible for cancellation of any remaining debt, along with those who have been repaying graduate school loans for 25 years or more.
The plan would forgive debt for those in college programs deemed to be of “low financial value.” It is intended to help those who participated in programs that ultimately became ineligible to receive federal student aid or programs that defrauded students.
A final category would cancel debt for borrowers facing financial hardship.