Student Loan Aid For Millions Coming From Biden After Delay

Biden has faced pressure from liberals to provide broader relief to hard-hit borrowers and from moderates and Republicans who question the fairness of any broad forgiveness. The delay in Biden’s decision only heightened anticipation for what his own aides acknowledge represents a no-win political situation. The people spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss Biden’s anticipated announcement in advance. The exact details of Biden’s plan, which would include an income cap that would limit forgiveness to only those earning less than $125,000 a year, were kept in an unusually tight circle within the Biden administration and had not yet been finalized on the eve of the announcement. . Decision-making has been a hallmark of the Biden White House, but the particular delay on student loans reflects the vexing challenge he faces in fulfilling a key campaign promise. The plan would likely eliminate student debt entirely for millions of Americans and eliminate at least half of it for millions more. The nation’s federal student debt has now topped $1.6 trillion in years. More than 43 million Americans have federal student debt, with nearly a third owing less than $10,000 and more than half owing less than $20,000, according to the latest federal data. The continuation of the pandemic-era payment freeze comes just days before millions of Americans prepare to learn when their next student loan bills will be paid off. This is the closest the administration has come to ending the payment freeze extension, with the current pause set to expire on August 31. Wednesday’s announcement was set for the White House after Biden returned from vacation in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The administration had briefly considered colleges of higher education in the president’s home state for a larger unveiling, but scaled back its plans. Biden was initially skeptical of canceling student loan debt as he faced more progressive Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who had proposed cancellations of $50,000 or more during the primaries. of 2020. As he sought to shore up support among younger voters and prepare for a general election battle against then-President Donald Trump, Biden unveiled his original proposal to write off $10,000 in debt per borrower, with no income limit specified. Biden scaled back his campaign promise in recent months, embracing the income cap as rising inflation took a political toll and as he aimed to fend off political attacks that the repeal would benefit those with higher wages. But Democrats, from members of Congressional leadership to those facing tough re-election efforts this November, have pushed the administration to go as far as possible on debt relief, seeing it in part as a galvanizing issue, particularly for blacks and new voters this fall. Frantic last-minute lobbying continued Tuesday, even as Biden remained on summer vacation. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., one of the strongest advocates in recent years for canceling student loan debt, spoke privately on the phone with Biden, pleading with the president to forgive as much debt as possible may the government, according to a Democrat with knowledge of the call. In his game, Schumer argued to Biden that doing so was the right thing morally and financially, said the Democrat, who asked to remain anonymous to describe a private conversation. Inside the administration, officials have been discussing since at least early summer to forgive more than $10,000 in student debt for certain categories of borrowers, such as Pell Grant recipients, according to three people with knowledge of the deliberations. That remained one of the last variables Biden considered in Wednesday’s announcement. Democrats are betting that Biden, who has seen his public approval rating slide over the past year, can help younger voters at the polls in November with the announcement. While Biden’s plan is narrower than what he initially proposed on the campaign trail, “he’s going to get a lot of credit for sticking to something he’s committed to,” said Celinda Lake, a pollster who worked with Biden on his campaign. 2020. . He described student debt as a “gateway issue” for younger voters, meaning it influences their views and decisions about housing affordability and career choices. A survey of 18- to 29-year-olds conducted by the Harvard Institute of Politics in March found that 59% of respondents favored debt relief of some kind — either for all borrowers or those with the greatest need — though the student loans did not rank high among the issues that concerned people in this age group the most. Some supporters were already bracing themselves for disappointment. “If the rumors are true, we have a problem,” Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP, which has aggressively pressed Biden for bolder action, said Tuesday. He pointed out that black students face higher burdens in the debut than white students. “President Biden’s decision on student debt cannot become the latest example of a policy that has left black people — especially black women — behind,” he said. “That’s not how you treat black voters who turned out in record numbers and cast 90% of their votes to save democracy again in 2020.” John Della Volpe, who worked as an adviser to the Biden campaign and is director of polling at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics, said the details 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 person, which in this case is President Biden.” Coupled with fears of expanding abortion restrictions and Trump’s re-emergence on the political stage, Della Volpe said student debt relief “adds an extra wind of heaven to an already improving position with young people.” Republicans, meanwhile, only see political upside if Biden pursues a large-scale cancellation of student debt ahead of November’s midterms, anticipating a backlash for Democrats — particularly in states with large numbers of working-class voters without degrees college. Critics of the sweeping student debt cancellation also believe it would open the White House to lawsuits, arguing that Congress never gave the president the express authority to cancel the debt on his own. The Republican National Committee on Tuesday blasted Biden’s expected announcement as a “pamphlet to the rich,” arguing it would unfairly burden lower-income taxpayers and those who have already paid off their student loans by covering the cost of higher education for the wealthy. . “My neighbor, a detective, worked 3 jobs (including selling carpets) and his wife worked to make sure their daughter got a quality college degree without student debt,” Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, the top Republican in Parliament. The Ways and Means Committee tweeted on Tuesday. “Great sacrifice. Now their taxes have to pay off someone else’s student debt?’ Biden’s protracted discussions sent federal loan officers, who have been ordered to withhold billing statements while he weighs a decision, grumbling. Industry groups had complained that the late decision left them days to notify borrowers, retrain customer service workers and update websites and digital payment systems, said Scott Buchanan, executive director of the Student Loan Servicing Alliance. It increases the risk that some borrowers will be inadvertently told they have to make payments, he said. “At this late stage I think that’s the risk we’re running,” he said. “You just can’t turn a dime with 35 million borrowers who all have different types of loans and situations.” __ Associated Press writer Collin Binkley contributed from Washington.

title: “Student Loan Aid For Millions Coming From Biden After Delay " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-19” author: “Douglas Sifford”