(HorizonPost.com) – The White House announced on Wednesday that it had approved a bailout for another $7.7 billion in student loan debt, bringing the president’s total student debt bailout to $167 billion, slightly more than the $165.6 billion requested by the US Army in the 2024 budget.
President Biden’s latest effort to transfer student loan debt to taxpayers comes as his campaign is struggling with younger voters, a key demographic in the president’s 2020 election victory. A CNN poll from late April showed Donald Trump leading Biden among voters ages 18-34 by 11 points in a head-to-head match-up.
In a May 21 press release, the Department of Education boasted that the administration had thus far bailed out 4.75 million student debt borrowers.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona boasted that the Biden Administration had now bailed out the debt for 10 percent of all federal student loan borrowers, giving them “financial breathing room.”
The latest bailout includes the student loan debt held by public servants, including police officers and teachers, as well as tens of thousands of individuals who signed up for the president’s new SAVE repayment program, an income-based program that links borrowers’ monthly student loan payment to their income.
Among the roughly 160,500 borrowers covered in the latest order, 66,900 will be bailed out through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. Another 54,300 SAVE plan enrollees will be bailed out. Finally, 39,200 borrowers will be bailed out through adjustments to other income-based repayment plans.
The US Supreme Court blocked the Biden administration from offering student debt “forgiveness” last June, ruling that the administration did not have the constitutional authority to erase nearly half a trillion dollars in personal debt.
The White House, fearful of losing the support of younger voters, quickly sought ways to work around the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Currently, the White House is plotting a new student debt bailout through the Higher Education Act, which would transfer to taxpayers the student loan debt of roughly 30 million borrowers.
The Department of Education said on Wednesday that the public comment period for the new bailout closed on May 17 and that it was reviewing the comments received.
It is expected to finalize the plan in the fall just before voters go to the polls in November.
Copyright 2024, HorizonPost.com
