Biden misses out on student loan forgiveness again

A few weeks ago, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan, which would have written off billions in student debt for American students. In response to the court’s ruling, the Department of Education announced that millions of borrowers will be placed in forbearance while SAVE is litigated.

It’s the second time Biden’s plan has been ruled unconstitutional because of administrative agencies overstepping their statutory bounds. Instead of finding a legislative solution to the problem of student loan debt, Biden continues to abuse the regulatory power of administrative agencies to dictate policy.

The president did this on purpose — he wants to blame the judiciary for the lack of student debt relief instead of acknowledging that student loan forgiveness is unpopular and politically impossible. Moreover, he is trying to preserve the issue so that Vice President Kamala Harris can campaign and court young voters.

Student loan cancellation was one of the main promises of Biden’s 2020 campaign to attract the support of young voters. Once in office, the education secretary used the Higher Education Student Aid Opportunity Act (HEROES Act) to forgive student loans in 2022. The Supreme Court struck this down in 2023, holding in Biden v. Nebraska that The HEROES Act did not empower the secretary of education to cancel student debt and reprimanded him for overstepping the bounds of the statute. “The power to amend does not allow the Secretary to ‘invert that approach’ by creating a new program that would affect 43 million Americans.”

Biden would likely find a legislative solution to canceling student debt. So why did he try – again – to write off billions of dollars in student debt by resorting to administrative settlements?

He must have known that states would sue, arguing that the final student debt cancellation rule was unconstitutional because of a lack of statutory authority. The district court found this before the case reached the 8th Circuit: “Congress has made clear under what circumstances loan forgiveness is permitted, and the (income-based repayment) plan is not one of those circumstances.”

Biden continues to pursue an administrative appeal because the loan forgiveness is unpopular; 76% of Americans oppose it. Biden could not find consensus on the issue in his own party. Many House Democrats opposed the White House’s initial repeal plan. Some of them voted to repeal the first cancellation plan.

The administration’s foray into canceling student obligations was politically unpopular and impractical. Biden continued on this path to avoid the backlash from young voters who propelled him to victory in 2020 and to preserve the issue for Harris. The vice president needs these voters, and getting their votes is easier if loan cancellation is at stake.

It is also politically expedient for Biden to blame everyone but himself for the lack of relief. This was shown when he decided to pivot and attack the Supreme Court after they decided Biden v. Nebraska. This happened again when the Republicans won control of the House of Representatives. Instead of working with Republicans and crafting a bipartisan debt relief plan, Biden chose to bypass Congress by passing SAVE.

If Biden wanted to cancel student debt, he would have proposed legislation during the unified government or worked across the aisle to form a pragmatic, common-sense plan. Instead, Biden chose to dictate policy by regulation and blame the judiciary for its shortcomings. Going forward, any administration serious about debt forgiveness should pursue a legislative solution rather than an administrative one.