The Blubber

The Democratic president is set to announce plans in Madison, Wisconsin, which include cancelling up to $20,000 of accrued and capitalized interest for borrowers, regardless of income. This move is estimated to eliminate the entirety of that interest for 23 million borrowers.

Progressive voters, whom Biden hopes will support him against Republican challenger Donald Trump, have long urged the White House to address student loan debt. Despite the U.S. Supreme Court blocking his initial plan last year, Biden's administration has taken a series of actions on the issue.

The topic remains a priority for younger voters, many of whom have concerns about Biden's foreign policy on the war in Gaza and criticize him for not achieving greater debt forgiveness. Republicans have criticized Biden's student loan forgiveness approach, calling it an overreach of his authority and an unfair benefit to college-educated borrowers compared to other borrowers who received no such relief.

Biden's new plans also include automatically cancelling debt for borrowers who are eligible for certain forgiveness programs, those who entered repayment decades ago, those who enrolled in low financial value programs, or those experiencing hardship.

If the latest plans are finalized after a public comment period, they could take effect as early as this fall, according to White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre. Combined with the administration's previous actions, these plans could benefit more than 30 million Americans, Jean-Pierre added.

To date, the administration has approved $146 billion in student debt relief for 4 million Americans.

As of June 2023, approximately 43.4 million student loan recipients had $1.63 trillion in outstanding loans, according to the Federal Student Aid website.

"We're delivering as much relief as possible for as many borrowers as possible, as quickly as possible," said U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.

Biden has pledged to continue pushing for student debt relief for as many borrowers as possible following the Supreme Court's decision blocking his earlier plan to cancel hundreds of billions of dollars in debt. Administration officials said they studied the 6-3 ruling in crafting the new plans.

U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, the top Republican on the Senate education panel, criticized such "loan schemes," calling them an unfair ploy to buy votes before an election that does nothing to address the high cost of education that puts young people back into debt.

Other administration officials are scheduled to promote the new plans at events across the United States on Monday, including Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia.