United States: On Thursday, US President Joe Biden again cleared USD 4.5 billion in student debts for 63,000 borrowers that are involved in public services as more than 1 million civil servants have had their student balances of loans for higher learning cleared, as reportedd by Reuters.
Another Step Toward Student Loan Forgiveness
The cancellation is Biden’s latest attempt to achieve his campaign promise to forgive student loans before the end of his term in January 2021, as other attempts fail in the courts.
Harris Promises Continued Support for Borrowers
Democrat Kamala Harris, who is Biden’s running mate, vice president, and now a presidential contender after Biden relinquished the bid to her with a confrontation with Trump in the November 5 election, said, “I will ensure that Americans continue to chop education costs when elected into office, for instance, through aid to citizens who utilized federal student loans.”
“While Republican elected officials do everything in their power to block millions of their own constituents from receiving this much-needed economic relief, I will continue our work to lower costs, make higher education more affordable, and relieve the burden of student debt,” Harris said in a statement.
Another Step Toward Student Loan Forgiveness
Wednesday’s action takes the Biden-Harris Administration’s total approved student loan relief to USD 175 billion for approximately 4.9 million borrowers, according to the White House.
It has labeled the current student loan system as broken and continues to argue that debt relief is necessary to prevent borrowers from being FOReclosed by their decision to fund education past the secondary level.
Harris has chosen to run her campaign, in part, on economic policies that would address the high cost of living for middle and lower-income earners as well as the need to grow the economy. At the same time, Trump has advocated for tariffs and tax cuts.
Some Republicans have criticized Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan as abusive of executive power and favoring college-educated borrowers, while others get no leniency, as reportedd by Reuters.
Criticism from Republicans
Six Republican state attorneys general have claimed that Biden’s plan is actually up to Congress to do something through legislation. In early November, a federal judge under Trump’s administration issued an order preventing Biden from enmass canceling individuals’ student debts at least until their case is heard.