The Morning Call

Biden pressured to lengthen student loan payment pause

- By Collin Binkley and Chris Megerian

WASHINGTON — In the days and weeks before the midterm elections, President Joe Biden trumpeted his plan to cancel billions in student loans as he rallied young people to support Democrats.

But now the initiative is in jeopardy because of legal challenges that could ensure no one receives a dollar of debt relief. The debacle is becoming a headache for the administra­tion instead of an example of how the president keeps promises to voters.

The White House insists it will prevail even though two federal courts blocked the program from taking effect. However, the setbacks have rattled supporters who fear that more than 40 million Americans who expected relief will instead start getting billed for their student debt in January, when a pandemic-era moratorium on payments is scheduled to expire.

“You cannot ask people to begin repaying on a debt that shouldn’t exist,” said Melissa Byrne, an advocate for loan cancellati­on. “We bear no blame in this broken system.”

The impasse has left the White House in a bind over whether to extend the moratorium if the battle drags on even though Biden has said the pandemic, the original reason for the pause in payments, “is over.”

The freeze has cost the federal government more than $100 billion in lost revenue, according to the Government Accountabi­lity Office. Critics such as the Committee for a Responsibl­e Federal Budget are warning that another extension could worsen inflation and raise the risk of recession.

Republican­s oppose cancellati­on as an unfair

handout for the wealthy, arguing Americans who didn’t go to college will bear the cost as well. Conservati­ves have orchestrat­ed a barrage of legal attacks against Biden’s plan, saying it oversteppe­d the president’s authority.

In the meantime, borrowers across the nation again face uncertaint­y. An estimated 20 million were eligible to get their federal student debt erased entirely by Biden’s plan, which would cancel $10,000 in student loan debt for those making less than $125,000 or households making less than $250,000. Those who receive Pell Grants, typically given to those with lower incomes, would get another $10,000 in forgivenes­s.

Now, it’s unclear if borrowers will be expected to make payments on that debt when the pause ends, and the political hazards are growing. At risk is support from 43 million borrowers who have been promised at least some debt relief, including millions of younger Americans, a demographi­c that helped deliver key wins for Democrats last week.

Adwoa Asante, who is eligible for $20,000 in cancellati­on, said it would be “destabiliz­ing” if her payments restart in January. The 33-year-old Dallas

attorney owes $163,000 in law school debt, with monthly bills of up to $2,000. Asante voted for Biden but criticizes him for reaping the benefits of his plan in the midterms only to have borrowers left out in the cold.

“Honestly, there’s a lot of frustratio­n toward the Biden administra­tion. I think that they anticipate­d that there would be legal challenges to the student loan cancellati­on,” she said, calling the court challenges “to be expected.”

Cedric Richmond, who worked in the White House before becoming a senior adviser to the Democratic National Committee, doubted that Biden will face political fallout if the program is ultimately blocked, saying “the blowback should go exactly where it deserves, and that’s with this rogue Supreme Court.”

About 6 in 10 voters under 45 approve of Biden’s handling of student debt, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 94,000 voters nationwide. Voters as a whole were almost evenly divided on the issue, while Democrats were far more likely to show approval than Republican­s.

Nearly 26 million people already have applied for the debt relief, out of an estimated 43 million eligible.

 ?? EVAN VUCCI/AP ?? President Biden speaks about student loan debt relief Oct. 21 at Delaware State University in Dover. His plan to cancel some debt has faced legal pushback.
EVAN VUCCI/AP President Biden speaks about student loan debt relief Oct. 21 at Delaware State University in Dover. His plan to cancel some debt has faced legal pushback.

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