The White House announced it will wipe out another $7.4 billion in student debt for 277,000 borrowers, bringing the total canceled by the Biden administration to $153 billion.
It is the second major attempt by 81-year-old Biden to cancel billions in debt in a week, in a plan that critics say is an attempt to “buy votes” before the general election.
On Monday, the government introduced a combined plan that would affect about 30 million borrowers after its first bid was blocked by the Supreme Court last year.
Now, more borrowers seeking to have their student loans forgiven will receive emails informing them of the move on Friday.
“From day one of my administration, I have pledged to fight to ensure that higher education is a ticket to the middle class, and not a barrier to opportunity. “I will never stop working to cancel student debt — no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stop us,” Biden said in a statement.
The debt being forgiven Friday is for borrowers in three debt forgiveness programs already in use, including one that 18 Republican Party-led states are suing to block.
President Biden touted his latest proposals to cancel the debt of millions of Americans during a visit to Madison, Wisconsin on Monday. On Friday, the government announced it would cancel another $7.4 billion in debt under programs already implemented, bringing the total canceled to date to $153 billion.
Nearly 207,000 borrowers will see about $3.6 billion in debt forgiven through President Biden’s SAVE plan, through which the administration began canceling student loan debt earlier this year.
Another 65,000 borrowers will see their debts disappear due to administrative adjustments to the Income-Driven Repayment Plans (IDR). So far, the government has wiped out $49 billion in debt through IDR plans.
Third, another 4,600 government employees will see their debts forgiven through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
A total of 4.3 million federal student loan borrowers have forgiven their debts since Biden took office.
“It shows that we are relentless in what we do to help millions of hardworking Americans with the burden of student debt,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said of the many debt cancellations.
The Biden administration has canceled $153 billion in student loan debt through a series of efforts, including the SAVE plan and changes to the income-driven repayment and forgiveness plans for government loans.
The bulk of the debt forgiven Friday will come through the SAVE plan, an income boost repayment plan that reduces the amount of time and money some borrowers have to pay before their student debt is forgiven.
The Biden administration announced last summer that it would launch the program.
In February, the White House announced that the first group would see debt forgiven under the plan, and the Department of Education said it would continue to identify eligible borrowers on an ongoing basis.
So far, eight million borrowers have joined the scheme. 4.5 million of these borrowers have monthly payments of $0, and more than a million have monthly payments of less than $100, the White House said.
However, Republicans have blasted the debt cancellation effort, accusing the president of trying to “buy votes” ahead of the election.
They call student loan forgiveness unfair to taxpayers who don’t take out huge student loans for school or have the ability to attend college.
Two lawsuits have been filed by Republican attorneys general against the Biden administration’s income-driven repayment program, known as the SAVE plan.
The Republican attorneys general of 18 states are suing the Biden administration over the SAVE plan. One lawsuit signed by 11 states was filed in Kansas on March 28, while another involving seven states was filed in Missouri earlier this week.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre denounced the lawsuits, saying Republican elected officials want to increase their constituents’ monthly payments and keep them under a mountain of debt.
A senior government official said they strongly believe in their legal authority to take action.
Republican officials acknowledged they are unlikely to repay debts already forgiven.
Meanwhile, President Biden traveled to Madison, Wisconsin on Monday to tout additional new plans to eliminate student loan debt.
These proposals are being rolled out through the more time-consuming regulatory process that the government turned to after the Supreme Court blocked the original plan.
According to the Biden administration, the new proposals would completely eliminate accrued interest for 23 million borrowers.
It would also forgive the full amount of student debt for more than four million borrowers and provide more than 10 million borrowers with at least $5,000 or more in debt relief.
The top five actions include canceling up to $20,000 in unpaid interest for borrowers who currently owe more on their student loans than they originally borrowed.
It would also wipe out the debts of two million borrowers who would have qualified for other forgiveness programs but have not yet applied.
In addition, students who started repaying 20 years or more ago, and students who started repaying 25 years or more ago, would also have their debts forgiven.
Borrowers enrolled in programs with low financial value and who have experienced financial difficulties in repaying loans would also experience relief.
President Biden released a video Monday touting his latest student debt forgiveness proposals, which would cancel accrued interest for millions, cancel debt for some borrowers who have not yet enrolled but are eligible for other programs, and debts would be forgiven for some who have been in repayment for twenty years. or more years
Protesters outside the Supreme Court on June 30, 2023. Biden’s new student debt forgiveness proposals come after the Supreme Court blocked his original debt cancellation plan
The new proposals come after the president’s first massive $400 billion plan to cancel student loan debt was blocked by the Supreme Court last June.
“Tens of millions of people’s debts were literally on the verge of being forgiven, but then some of my Republican friends, elected officials and special interests sued us, and the Supreme Court blocked us,” Biden said Monday, boasting “that stopped us don’t like it.’
Senior administration officials said they had carefully studied the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision and were pursuing the new regulations in a manner consistent with that decision.
The new plans unveiled on Monday are part of the regulatory process that began last summer and are being implemented under the authority of the education secretary in the Higher Education Act.
Government officials said they are confident in the new proposals going forward.