Student loans: Is Biden’s new plan legal?
“President Biden is at it again,” said LZ Granderson in the Los Angeles Times. He unveiled his latest plan to combat student debt last week— despite the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling that his attempt to cancel more than $400 billion in loans overstepped his authority. Biden’s new proposal— which his administration hopes to put into effect this fall—would help 30 million borrowers by eliminating up to $20,000 in accrued interest. All interest would be forgiven for low- and middleincome borrowers in income-driven repayment plans. Biden also canceled $7.4 billion owed by another 277,000 people who borrowed less than $12,000 and have made payments for 10 years. Biden has now eliminated about $153 billion in debt for 4.3 million Americans. Conservatives argue Biden is trying to buy young people’s votes, and that using taxpayer dollars to erase their debt is unfair to those who worked to pay off their loans or didn’t attend college. But relieving crippling levels of debt for young working people is a social good. Don’t “the childless pay for schools, and city dwellers pay for county roads”?
Biden’s plan “is still illegal,” said The Wall Street Journal in an editorial. This time, he’s using the Higher Education Act to justify “waiving” claims, but the Supreme Court stressed last year that student loan forgiveness requires congressional authorization. Congress would never approve loan forgiveness on this staggering scale, said
Rich Lowry in National Review, but Biden won’t “let niggling concerns about the legality get in the way.” Evading a Supreme Court ruling represents “a profound trespass against our constitutional order,” and sets a dangerous precedent—which Donald Trump will be sure to follow if he returns to the White House. For progressives, “becoming sticklers about the law will have to wait until Trump is president again.”
Student debt relief was a Biden campaign promise, said Sara Pequeño in USA Today, and he’s both right and smart to fulfill it. Attendance at some of the country’s best schools now costs more than $90,000 annually, and Americans already hold nearly $2 trillion in student debt. Gen Z, Millennials, and many African-Americans are disillusioned with Biden over his stance on Israel and Gaza, and taking aggressive action on student loan forgiveness may win them back. It can also help the overall economy by enabling young people to spend money. “Biden knows this, and it could pay off in November.”