Biden Moves Forward With Next Debt Relief Plan Despite Legal Challenges
Jessica Blake
October 28, 2024
The long-awaited proposal is likely the last piece of Biden’s ambitious debt relief agenda, which has mostly been thwarted by the courts.
President Joe Biden’s latest debt-relief plan would benefit eight million people, if enacted, but the plan will likely face legal challenges and might never see the light of day.
The long-awaited proposal, released Friday and geared toward helping borrowers experiencing financial hardship, is the final piece of the Biden administration’s second attempt to provide student debt relief to millions of Americans. The first effort, which would have benefited 43 million borrowers, was struck down by the Supreme Court in June 2023, prompting the president to go back to the drawing board.
The newest plan builds on the administration’s proposal released earlier this year that provides a pathway to relief for borrowers who owe more they initially borrowed or who have spent more than 20 years paying back their loans, among other groups. Under that plan, which is not yet final and on hold in the courts, the department would forgive all or some of nearly 28 million Americans’ student loans.
