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President Biden touted his new plans to eliminate student loan debt for as many as 30 million borrowers and vowed to 'never stop delivering relief' on Monday as Republicans accuse him of trying to 'buy votes' ahead of the 2024 election.
The president traveled to Madison, Wisconsin to deliver remarks on his latest effort to cancel debt through a series of new proposals.
'This relief can be life changing,' President Biden said. 'Folks, I will never stop to deliver student debt relief for hardworking Americans.'
The president argued it's 'good for our economy' and means many Americans can 'finally get on with their lives.'
President Biden touting his latest effort to cancel student loan debt for millions of Americans during a visit to Madison, WI
The Biden administration has canceled $146 billion in student loan debt through a series of efforts including changes to Income-Driven Repayment and Public Service Loan Forgiveness plans
Timing of the new effort has prompted Republicans and Biden critics to accuse the president of using student loan debt relief to score political points heading into a tough general election.
President Biden responded to the criticism on Monday.
'People say to me "it's great your'e helping people into college, how about all the hard working people who grew up and had no opportunity to go to college?" I get it, that's the neighborhood I come from,' he said.
'That's why a big part of my economic agenda is investing in all Americans, whether you attend college or not,' Biden added.
The president called for expanding career and technical education in high school and touted grants for apprenticeship programs. He also renewed his call for free community college.
'I also want to make, and I've been pushing this and if I'm reelected I'm going to push it hard, we're going to get it done next time, is I want to make community college tuition free, so you won't need loans at all.'
He said it would cut the cost of going to college in half.
President Biden released a video on Monday touting his latest student loan debt forgiveness proposals which would cancel accrued interest for millions, wipe debt for some borrowers who have not already enrolled but qualify for other programs and cancel debt for some who have been in repayment for 20 or more years
It comes after Republicans blasted the president's new debt relief plans.
'This is an unfair ploy to buy votes before an election and does absolutely nothing to address the high cost of education that puts young people right back into debt,' said Republican Senator Bill Cassidy in a statement.
Cassidy argued the move does not forgive debt but transfers it to the '87 percent of Americans who decided to not go to college or already worked to pay off their loans.'
'President Biden keeps singing from the same song sheet in order to win political points. His efforts to “forgive” student loans will just push that cost onto taxpayers. It’s not forgiveness, it’s redistribution of debt,' wrote Republican Idaho Senator Jim Risch on X.
President Biden arriving in Madison, WI ahead of his speech on lowering costs where he touted his new student loan forgiveness plan
The latest proposals unveiled Monday are being rolled out through the more time consuming rulemaking process which the administration turned to after the Supreme Court blocked the original plan.
According to the Biden administration, the new proposals would fully eliminate accrued interest for 23 million borrowers.
It would also cancel the full amount of student loan debt for more than four million borrowers and provide more than 10 million borrowers with at least $5,000 in debt relief or more.
The five major actions include canceling up to $20,000 in unpaid interest for borrowers who currently owe more on their student loans than they originally borrowed.
It would also wipe debt for two million borrowers who would have qualified for other forgiveness programs but have not yet applied.
Additionally, undergraduate borrowers who entered into repayment 20 or more years ago and graduate student borrowers who began repayment 25 or more years ago would also see debt canceled.
Borrowers who have been enrolled in low-financial-value programs and those have have faced financial hardship paying back loans would also see relief.
Protesters outside the Supreme Court on June 30, 2023. Biden's new student debt forgiveness proposals come after the Supreme Court blocked his original plan to cancel debt
The new proposals come after the president's first massive $400 billion plan to cancel student loan debt was blocked by the Supreme Court last June.
'Tens of millions of people's debt was literally about to get cancelled, but then some of my Republican friends, elected officials and special interests sued us, and the Supreme Court blocked us,' Biden said Monday, bragging 'that didn't stop us.'
Biden claimed his administration has taken the most significant action to provide student debt relief ever and bragged that the Supreme Court was not able to stop them
Despite legal setback, the Biden administration has already managed to cancel $146 billion in student loan debt for four million Americans since the president took office.
'All together my administration has taken the most significant action to provide student debt relief ever in the history of this country,' Biden said.
Last June, the Supreme Court blocked the president's original $400 billion plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student loan debt for millions of borrowers making less than $125,000 a year.
But the Biden administration said they were not done with their fight to bring relief to millions of borrowers.
Senior administration officials said they studied the Supreme Court's 2023 decision carefully and pursued the new regulations in a way that is consistent with that decision.
The new plans are a part of the regulatory process that started last summer and are being carried out under the Education Secretary's authority in the Higher Education Act.
'This isn't the same plan, and we feel confident going forward,' a senior administration official said.
Monday's announcement for additional student loan debt cancelation builds on other efforts the Biden administration has already taken since the first plan was blocked.
To date, the Biden administration has already canceled $146 billion in student loan debt through changes to multiple programs including the Income Driven Repayment plan and fixing the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
Just months after the highest court blocked Biden's first student debt plan, the administration also launched the Saving on a Valuable Education or SAVE plan.
The SAVE plan is an income drive repayment plan that cuts down on the amount to time and money some borrowers have to pay before their student loan debt is forgiven.
In February, the administration began canceling billions in debt under the SAVE plan including $1.2 billion for 153,000 borrowers.
The Education Department said it would continue to identify borrowers who qualify for their debt to be forgiven on a continuing basis.
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach announcing a lawsuit filed with the attorneys general of ten other states against President Biden and the Education Department to block the SAVE plan on March 28
As the Biden administration launches its latest student loan forgiveness effort, the SAVE program is already facing a legal challenge.
On March 28, 11 states led by Kansas filed a federal lawsuit in an effort to block the forgiveness program. The lawsuit argued that the effort is no different than the first attempt by the president to wipe out student loan debt which was rejected by the Supreme Court.
Kansas Republican Attorney General Kris Kobach vowed to take the case all the way back to the Supreme Court if necessary.
Along with Kansas, the suit is backed by Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas and Utah.