The White House continues to engage on the public relations front amid high-stakes political stand-offs over student debt. Though the U.S. Supreme Court recently blocked a wide-ranging plan from the president’s team for debt relief, Biden’s administration has pursued other policy options, centering on expanding the availability of already present avenues for debt relief.
Examples include relief for individuals who work in public service fields and have made the equivalent of ten years of payments alongside benefits for others whose payments, tabulated on a monthly basis, equate to 20 or 25 years. Updates to the income-driven repayment plans available federally would also make that forgiveness available sooner for borrowers who took out smaller amounts in loans, with those whose loans were $12,000 or less eligible after ten years.
Republicans remain outraged, claiming vast expenses for the American taxpayer to cover the debt forgiveness. “@JoeBiden’s student loan debt transfer will cost hardworking Americans as much as $558.8 BILLION!” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) claimed. “That’s money he is taking from your wallet to bailout other people’s debt. It’s totally unfair, and it won’t fix the issue.”
The arrangements inherent in the student debt forgiveness plans unveiled by the Biden administration do not constitute a simple monetary transfer, as Scott suggests, even if costs can be calculated with payments that would otherwise be going to the federal government erased from the schedule.
“It’s unfortunate to see Senators who don’t want their constituents to get automatic student loan relief: 56,930 of Senator Scott’s constituents are eligible for automatic loan relief under this Administration’s fixes to the Income-Driven Repayment plan,” the White House replied online. The Department of Education has also unveiled adjustments to the calculations associated with already existing student debt accounts that would automatically provide tens of billions of dollars worth of debt relief to more than 800,000 Americans. Those developments relate to income-driven repayment plans specifically.
It’s unfortunate to see Senators who don’t want their constituents to get automatic student loan relief:
56,930 of Senator Scott’s constituents are eligible for automatic loan relief under this Administration’s fixes to the Income-Driven Repayment plan.https://t.co/InkGHStasB
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 21, 2023
