After the Supreme Court struck down President Biden's plan to cancel billions of dollars in student loan debt, borrowers are left wondering how to make good on his promise to tackle the debt burdening millions of Americans. I wondered if it would be implemented.
The answer is, he does it little by little.
Biden canceled $1.2 billion in student loan debt Wednesday, bringing the total erased during his time in office to $138 billion for 3.9 million borrowers. That's a big departure from his original plan to cancel up to $400 billion in debt for about 43 million borrowers.
But even Biden's critics acknowledge that he has gone further than any of his predecessors in easing debt burdens for millions of borrowers.
“It's good for the whole economy,” Biden told a small audience at a library in Culver City, California, on Wednesday. We can finally move on with our lives. ”
To avoid the Supreme Court's ruling, Biden has pursued a more piecemeal approach that tweaks existing programs that have long been plagued by bureaucratic delays. The debt forgiveness he announced on Wednesday is one example, extending to about 150,000 borrowers who are enrolled in so-called SAVE plans, an income-based repayment program, with low balances and who have been making payments for at least 10 years. influenced.
The Biden administration has regularly announced this limited form of debt cancellation over the past year, but Biden stopped personally addressing the issue during a fundraiser in California. , appeared to reflect the White House's intent to gain further recognition on the issue. Democratic allies are pleading with the administration to emphasize debt cancellation to energize key constituencies, including young voters and black borrowers who are disproportionately burdened with debt.
“Statistically, the most common experience with student loans is you apply for relief, you think you're going to get relief, and then the Supreme Court rejects it, and Biden is touting relief, but what relief? “I didn't get that much,” Braxton Brewington said. Spokesperson for the Debt Collective, an advocacy group focused on student loan cancellation.
Representative James E. Clyburn, D-South Carolina, who helped revive Mr. Biden's faltering primary campaign in 2020, said that so many voters were more interested in Biden than in what he had done. He said he was concerned that he was focusing on sweeping policies that he was unable to implement.
“Everywhere I went, students were saying, 'Joe Biden didn't keep his promise on student debt relief,'” Clyburn said. “Nobody was talking about success.”
The fight highlights broader challenges facing the White House, according to interviews with Democratic officials, loan relief advocates and voters. In many ways, Mr. Biden has become a victim of the high expectations created by his initial voluminous proposals, with many voters believing that even though he achieved substantial policy wins in many areas, , I am disappointed that he was unable to pass the bill.
The president has made the most ambitious investment in history to fight climate change, but polls show most Americans don't know about his signature climate change legislation. Despite a large stimulus bill and huge investments in infrastructure and health care, voters don't think he's done much. And even many voters who supported Biden in 2020 remain unimpressed with the economy, even though inflation is falling and unemployment is near historic lows.
But Biden's aides believe student loan cancellation could quickly improve the lives of some Americans and help turn the tide of Biden's low approval ratings.
More limited measures helped civil servants and persons with disabilities. The Department of Education last week also announced a proposal to forgive student loans for additional borrowers who are experiencing “difficulty” repaying their college loans.
The round, announced Wednesday, will see debt canceled for people in the SAVE plan who initially borrowed up to $12,000 and made qualifying monthly payments for at least 10 years.
In a sign of its struggle to get credit for the effort, the administration sent an email to affected borrowers from Biden on Wednesday informing them that their debts would be canceled this week.
“If you are eligible, you will be contacted immediately,” Biden said.
Brewington said Biden's workaround was “better than any other administration” on student loans.
But it will be difficult to convince voters that Mr. Biden has delivered on his student loan promise when only a fraction of the tens of millions of people who initially thought they would benefit have had their debt canceled. He said:
Brewington said the fact that it took Biden more than a year to unveil a sweeping plan to forgive student loans only heightened voters' expectations. After predicting that Biden would cancel some student loans during the 2020 campaign, he agonized over the decision and repeatedly asked his staff for data showing it was not a perk for the wealthy.
“I understand that they want to talk about what they've been doing to address student loan debt, and I think they're trying to convey some nuance, but to some extent that's not going to resonate with a lot of people,” Brewington said. ” he said. Added. “Especially when you say, 'I kept my word.' I mean, that's kind of you.”
Biden's ability to energize voters on student loan forgiveness has also been made more difficult by confusing developments in the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Delays and glitches have hampered universities' ability to provide aid packages that millions of students, especially low-income students, rely on to make college decisions.
Republicans seized on the failed development, accusing the White House of prioritizing campaign promises over policy implementation.
In a letter sent last month to Education Secretary Miguel A. Cardona, Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina and Rep. Burgess Owens of Utah said the department would “faithfully implement the laws enacted by the Department of Education. Instead, they focus their time and resources on transferring student debt to taxpayers.” meeting. “
To demonstrate the effectiveness of his student loan relief efforts, Mr. Biden stopped his campaign without notice last month at the home of Eric Fitts, a 49-year-old North Carolina educator who had about $125,000 in student loans canceled. did. Instead of paying off his debts, he plans to invest in college funds for his two sons, who dined with Biden, and start a real estate business.
Fitts said he told Biden about his debt “what a burden it is and how much of a barrier it is to certain things and opportunities.”
But Ashley Pizzuti, a student loan relief advocate selected by the administration to help negotiate regulations seeking further forgiveness, explains why Biden is facing more frustration than praise over student loans. He said he understood.
“There are a lot of people who are understandably really upset because they were told they were going to get this pardon and then it was rescinded,” Pizzuti said of Biden's plan, which was blocked by the Supreme Court. Stated. “And a lot of people are blaming Biden for that.”
As a result, Pizzuti said, “he couldn't fulfill his promise.”
Erica L. Green Contributed to reporting from Washington.
