President Joe Biden is transferring more student loan debt onto American taxpayers with only weeks left until he departs the Oval Office.
The Biden administration announced Friday that it is giving $4.28 billion of student debt relief to almost 55,000 more public service workers including teachers, nurses, and law enforcement officials.
“From Day One of my Administration, I promised to make sure that higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity,” Biden said in a statement.
“Because of our actions, millions of people across the country now have the breathing room to start businesses, save for retirement, and pursue life plans they had to put on hold because of the burden of student loan debt.”
The Department of Education is forgiving the debt through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, a policy that permits the forgiveness of remaining student loans for public employees who have made 120 monthly payments.
“Four years ago, the Biden-Harris Administration made a pledge to America’s teachers, service members, nurses, first responders, and other public servants that we would fix the broken Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, and I’m proud to say that we delivered,” said Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.
“The U.S. Department of Education’s successful transformation of the PSLF Program is a testament to what’s possible when you have leaders, like President Biden and Vice President Harris, who are relentlessly and unapologetically focused on making government deliver for everyday working people.”
The Biden administration greatly expanded PSLF as part of its broader agenda to cancel student loan debt by transferring the debt obligations to taxpayers. Over the past four years, the Biden administration has forgiven over $180 billion of student debt for 4.9 million borrowers with a variety of tools, according to the Education Department.
Of the $180 billion in relief, $56.5 billion of it has been handed out through income-driven repayment plans, such as the Saving on a Valuable Education plan, an initiative expected to cost $475 billion across 10 years.
President Biden has not stopped forgiving student loan debt despite the significant legal hurdles his various initiatives have faced. The Supreme Court ruled in June 2023 that Biden could not move forward with a $400 billion student loan cancellation plan under a law passed in 2003 allowing for student debt to be wiped out in cases of a national emergency.
With the end of Biden’s terms, the student loan cancellation plans are likely to go by the wayside. President-elect Donald Trump and many other Republicans have criticized the student debt transfers onto taxpayers as a bailout of highly educated elites with hard-earned tax dollars provided by the working and middle classes.
James Lynch is a news writer for National Review. He previously was a reporter for the Daily Caller. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and based in the Washington, D.C. area.
Reprinted with Permission from National Review – By James Lynch
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.
Did the author actually think Biden or his handlers would change their policies based by simply being over-ruled by the Supreme Court or the Trump landslide in November? The Biden family has already decamped D.C. for their homes in Delaware as various other problems caused by the Democrats continue to burn around the world. I expect Team Biden will continue to cause as many problems as possible right up to January 20th. It’s who the Democrats are.
What part of “You don’t have the authority to do this,” does the Biden administration not understand? If the Trump administration had done this, democrats would have impeached him. Also, the people who took out these loans SIGNED CONTRACTS to pay back those loans. They need to abide by those contracts and pay the loans back.
If my math is correct, that is about $40,000.00 per person. I paid for my college, so how about Biden gives me $40k toward my house and car payment?
FJB is a corrupt swamp dweller who doesn’t obey the law. I would love to see Donald Trump disregard rulings by judges, or the Supreme Court, as he pushes to make America great again. After all, Biden and his corrupt administration disregarded court rulings. Just imagine how liberal heads would explode if Trump were to pull the same stuff that Biden is pulling. Now THAT would be fun to watch! MAGA!!!!
Where is the money coming from that will repay the institutions that lent out the money?
If the government was shut down, this crap would not happen.
Biden is brain dead. Everybody has been covering him for 4 years. I want to know it was actually making these decisions. Obviously it’s Obama
Could Biden be held responsible for his actions once he is out of Office for openly defying The Supreme Court’s decision earlier?
What is the explanation for the astronomical cost of the college education? It certainly does not churn out mental giants.
Where is this supposed relief?? My kids haven’t seen any reduction in their student loans through the PSLF program. So, where is the $$$$$, Pres. Joe? You must have stocked up on more ice cream before your departure from the WH, eh?