After the Supreme Court struck down President Biden’s plan to cancel billions of dollars in student loan debt, borrowers wondered how he would make good on his promise to tackle debt burdening millions of Americans.
The answer: He would do it bit by bit.
Mr. Biden on Wednesday canceled $1.2 billion in student loan debt, bringing the total amount that he has wiped out during his time in office to $138 billion for 3.9 million borrowers. It is a far cry from his initial plan, which would have canceled up to $400 billion in debt for about 43 million borrowers.
But even Mr. Biden’s critics acknowledge that he has gone further than any of his predecessors in relieving the debt burden for millions of borrowers.
“It’s good for the economy as a whole,” Mr. Biden said on Wednesday, speaking to a small crowd at a library in Culver City, Calif. “By freeing millions of Americans from the crushing debt of student loan programs, it means they can finally get on with their lives.”
To work around the Supreme Court decision, Mr. Biden has pursued a more piecemeal approach, tweaking existing programs long plagued by bureaucratic delays. The debt cancellation he announced on Wednesday was an example of that, affecting about 150,000 borrowers enrolled in what is known as the SAVE plan, an income-driven repayment program, who have lower balances and have made payments for at least a decade.
While his administration has periodically announced such limited forms of debt cancellation in the past year, Mr. Biden’s stop to personally address the issue during a fund-raising swing through California appeared to reflect a White House intent on getting more credit for it. Democratic allies have been pleading for the administration to emphasize debt cancellation to galvanize crucial constituencies, including the young voters and Black borrowers who disproportionately shoulder such debt.
“The most common experience of student debt statistically is you file for relief, you thought you were going to get it and then the Supreme Court knocked it down and Biden is touting relief and you didn’t get any relief,” said Braxton Brewington, the press secretary for the Debt Collective, an advocacy group focused on student debt cancellation.
Representative James E. Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat who helped resurrect Mr. Biden’s ailing 2020 primary campaign, said he was concerned that so many voters were focusing on the sprawling package Mr. Biden had failed to deliver rather than what he had done.
“Everywhere I went, students were saying to me, ‘Joe Biden didn’t keep his promise on student debt relief,’” Mr. Clyburn said. “Nobody was talking about the successes.”
The struggle illustrates a broader challenge 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 set by his initial sprawling proposals, leaving many voters disappointed over what he has failed to pass even as he has notched substantial policy wins on a number of fronts.
The president made the most ambitious investment to combat climate change in history, but polls have found that most Americans are unaware of his signature climate law. Despite a major stimulus bill and large investments in infrastructure and health, voters believe he has not accomplished much. And even many voters who supported Mr. Biden in 2020 are not impressed with the economy, despite falling inflation falls and unemployment near historic lows.
But Mr. Biden’s aides believe the student debt cancellation can be a way to quickly improve the lives of some Americans and help turn the tide on his low approval numbers.
The more limited measures have helped public service workers and those with disabilities. Last week, the Education Department also released a proposal that would cancel student debt for additional borrowers who experience “hardship” in paying off college loans.
Original article here. .