Student loan borrowers await Biden plan on debt forgiveness

Millions of Americans were waiting to learn the fate of their federal student debt on Wednesday as President Joe Biden prepared to deliver on his campaign promise to provide up to USD 10,000 in debt cancellation.

Details of the plan have been kept closely guarded, but borrowers who earn less than USD 125,000 a year would be eligible for the loan forgiveness, according to three people familiar with the decision. Biden is also set to extend a pause on federal student loan payments through January.

If it survives legal challenges that are almost certain to come, Biden's plan could offer a windfall to a swath of the nation in the run-up to this fall's midterm elections.

More than 43 million owe a combined USD 1.6 trillion in federal student debt, with almost a third owing less than USD 10,000, according to federal data.

Still, the action is unlikely to thrill any of the factions that have been jostling for influence as Biden weighs how much to cancel and for whom.

Biden has faced pressure from liberals to provide broader relief to hard-hit borrowers, and from moderates and Republicans questioning the fairness of any widespread forgiveness.

The delay in Biden's decision has only heightened the anticipation for what his own aides acknowledge represents a political no-win situation.

The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss Biden's intended announcement ahead of time.

The continuation of the pandemic-era payment freeze comes just days before millions of Americans were set to find out when their next student loan bills will be due.

This is the closest the administration has come to hitting the end of the payment freeze extension, with the current pause set to end August 31.

Wednesday's announcement was set for the White House after Biden returns from vacation in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The administration had briefly considered higher education schools in the president's home state for a larger reveal, but scaled back their plans.

During the 2020 presidential campaign, Biden was initially skeptical of student loan debt cancellation as he faced off against more progressive candidates for the Democratic nomination. Senators Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., had proposed cancellations of $50,000 or more.

As he tried to shore up support among younger voters and prepare for a general election battle against President Donald Trump, Biden unveiled his initial proposal for debt cancellation of USD 10,000 per borrower, with no mention of an income cap.

Biden narrowed his campaign promise in recent months by embracing the income limit as soaring inflation took a political toll and as he aimed to head off political attacks that the cancellation would benefit those with higher take-home pay. But Democrats, from members of congressional leadership to those facing tough reelection bids this November, have pushed the administration to go as broad as possible on debt relief, seeing it in part as a galvanizing issue, particularly for Black and young voters this fall.

The frenzied last-minute lobbying continued Tuesday even as Biden remained on his summer vacation. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, one of the loudest advocates in recent years for cancelling student loan debt, spoke privately on the phone with Biden, imploring the president to forgive as much debt as the administration can, according to a Democrat with knowledge of the call.

In his pitch, Schumer argued to Biden that doing so was the right thing morally and economically, said the Democrat, who asked for anonymity to describe a private conversation.

Democrats are betting that Biden, who has seen his public approval rating tumble over the last year, can help motivate younger voters to the polls in November with the announcement.

Although Biden's plan is narrower than what he initially proposed during the campaign, “he'll get a lot of credit for following through on something that he was committed to,” said Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster who worked with Biden during the 2020 election.

Some advocates were already bracing for disappointment.

John Della Volpe, who worked as a consultant on Biden's campaign and is the director of polling at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics, said the particulars of Biden's announcement were less important than the decision itself.

“It's about trust in politics, in government, in our system. It's also about trust in the individual, which in this case is President Biden,'' Della Volpe said.

Republicans, meanwhile, see only political upside if Biden pursues a large-scale cancellation of student debt ahead of the November midterms, anticipating backlash for Democrats — particularly in states where there are large numbers of working-class voters without college degrees.

The Republican National Committee on Tuesday blasted Biden's expected announcement as a “handout to the rich'', claiming it would unfairly burden lower-income taxpayers and those who have already paid off their student loans with covering the costs of higher education for the wealthy.