The Department of Education unveiled President Joe Biden's latest student loan debt forgiveness plan that, if implemented, would bring relief to more than 30 million borrowers.
The proposal was published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, opening a 30-day public comment period as part of the federal rulemaking process.
Biden's first attempt at fulfilling a campaign promise for widespread student loan debt forgiveness was unveiled in 2022 and would have provided individual borrowers whose incomes fell below $125,000 with up to $20,000 in relief. It was struck down by the Supreme Court in a 6-3 ruling in August following a lawsuit brought by six Republican state attorneys general.
But now the administration will try to use the Higher Education Act, which created financial assistance programs for colleges and universities, to implement the new proposal instead of through executive action, which Biden tried to do in 2022.
The draft includes nine rules that permit separate and distinct types of waivers using the secretary of education's authority under the Higher Education Act, the Education Department said in a news release. Eight are applicable to loans held by the department, and a ninth addresses commercially held loans in the Federal Family Education Loan Program.
The proposal, first announced by Biden on April 8, would cancel up to $20,000 in interest for more than 25 million people who owe more than they originally borrowed regardless of income. Those enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) repayment plan and other income-driven repayment plans reportedly would be eligible to have the entire amount their balance has grown since entering repayment forgiven — including single borrowers earning $120,000 or less and married borrowers earning $240,000 or less.
But seven state attorneys general, led by Missouri Republican Andrew Bailey, filed a lawsuit against the new proposal on April 9, targeting the SAVE repayment plan that Bailey said would cost U.S. taxpayers $475 billion.
"What's frightening is that we have a lawless president who is openly flaunting the authority of the third branch of government, the highest court in the land, the United States Supreme Court," Bailey told Newsmax earlier this month.
"At what point does the mainstream media start calling this what it is — a constitutional crisis — when you have a chief executive who took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution and enforce the laws given to him by the legislative branch of Congress who is now just openly flaunting and consolidating that authority in one person?"
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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