President Joe Biden will return from vacation Wednesday to deliver a major announcement on student loan debt repayment and forgiveness, a campaign promise he reportedly has been trying to deliver on while balancing with increased inflation.
“The substance of the announcement is not yet clear and is being closely guarded by the White House, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment,” says Bloomberg News. “President Joe Biden’s decision has been long anticipated as he grapples with delivering targeted relief while weighing any fallout, including on already-rampant inflation.”
The President is expected to announce he is extending his pause on repayment of student loans for at least another four months, which would continue the program through the end of this year.
The move “would bring the freeze beyond the midterm elections, in which Democrats are hoping to stave off a loss of their slim House and Senate majorities.”
Biden is also expected to announce “some measure of debt forgiveness for borrowers whose income falls below a certain threshold.”
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“For months, Democratic lawmakers, labor leaders and civil-rights groups have been pressuring the White House to forgive more than $10,000 in student debt, arguing higher debt loads are disproportionately carried by Black or lower-income students,” Bloomberg notes. “During the 2020 presidential campaign, Biden himself urged Congress to forgive $10,000 in student debt and has appeared comfortable with that figure.”
NBC News goes farther, reporting that President Biden “is expected to cancel $10,000 per borrower making $125,000 a year or less.”
“White House chief of staff Ron Klain on Friday spoke with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., asking them to ‘do as much as they can’ on this issue, according to a source familiar with the call,” NBC News adds. “All three senators have been vocal supporters of widespread student debt cancelations.”
Democratic U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey Monday evening told SIRIUSXM Progress’ Dean Obeidallah the administration had something in the works.
MSNBC also reported the news on-air minutes ago.