The announcement could come as early as Wednesday, but it’s not clear that a final decision has been made on the details of the announcement — as well as the timing — and there can always be changes at the eleventh hour. The White House is also expected to consider in the coming days whether to again extend the current pause on federal student loan payments, which is set to expire on Aug. 31.
No payments have been required on most federal student loans since March 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit the US, greatly affecting the economy. Biden has extended the moratorium four times, most recently in April, arguing it was necessary to allow federal student loan borrowers to get back on their feet.
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
In recent days, White House officials have been reaching out to lawmakers to discuss their thinking on student loan debt relief as the current moratorium ends. Last week, for example, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia had a discussion with senior White House officials, sources said.
The White House has previously suggested that Biden was considering canceling $10,000 per borrower but excluding those earning more than $125,000 a year.
Setting an income cap, which has been hotly debated both inside and outside the administration, was also created as a buffer against criticism that the forgiveness would benefit those with the means to manage their debt payments.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said Sunday that Americans can expect a decision from the administration on student loans “in the next week or so.” With less than two weeks to go, Americans have been left guessing for weeks whether Biden will extend the current moratorium or, perhaps, forgive some of their debt.
“We talk about this every day, and I can tell you that the American people will hear within the next week from the President and the Department of Education about what we’re going to do around this,” Cardona told NBC. Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press.”
He did not provide further details, saying he would not make the announcement ahead of time.
Some Democratic lawmakers and supporters have been urging Biden to broadly cancel up to $50,000 of student loan debt per borrower, but the President has repeatedly pushed back against canceling that amount.
Biden has canceled more student loan debt than any other president, with his administration allowing the cancellation of nearly $32 billion in loans mostly for borrowers who were cheated out of their for-profit colleges and for borrowers with permanent disabilities.
This story has been updated with additional reports.
CNN’s Sam Fossum contributed to this report.
