The Biden administration is signaling that a decision on student debt forgiveness may be coming before payments are set to resume on August 31.
Interest on student debt has been paused for over two years, starting during the early days of the pandemic. But with interest set to begin recurring again soon, the Biden administration has given indications that he will soon move to forgive at least some of the $1.7 trillion in educational debt owed by 43 million Americans.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said that the administration “would make a decision about any cancellation of student debt before the conclusion of that pause on student loans.”
Later that day, President Biden spoke with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and reiterated that he is working on a plan to address the student debt issue.
According to Representative Tony Cardenas, a Democrat from California, Biden said he is open to forgiving public and private school debt. He also said the president did not indicate how much debt he is considering eliminating.
“You're going to like what I do on that,” the president reportedly told Cardenas. “I'm looking to do something on that and I think you're going to like what I do.”
A lawmaker speaking to CBS News told the outlet under the condition of anonymity that their request was for Biden to forgive student debt entirely.
It has been a topic of debate if Biden can forgive student debt through executive order or if he would need to go through Congress to get it done.
The signaling comes after Biden has found himself in the mud when it comes to poll numbers, especially among young people. Only 41% of young Americans approve of Biden’s job performance, according to a recent Harvard Institute of Politics poll. In March, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said that Biden needs to use his executive order power to cancel student debt in order to win back young voters.
Getting something done before the August 31 resumption of payments will also be significant for Biden’s party in November. Several states start early voting for the midterm elections on September 24, just weeks after the payments are set to resume. How Democrats fare may have a lot to do with Biden’s decision on student loan forgiveness.