President Joe Biden has scrapped his ambitious plan to cancel student loan debt for 38 million Americans, citing “operational challenges” as the primary reason for the reversal. The decision marks a major setback for borrowers who had hoped for relief and a controversial move as Biden faces mounting criticism from both sides of the political aisle.
In a statement released on Friday, the Department of Education outlined the rationale behind the withdrawal:
“In making this decision, we considered the Department’s ability to implement the proposed rules if they were finalized in a form identical or largely similar to what was included in the NPRM. With the time remaining in this administration, the Department is focused on several priorities including court-ordered settlements and helping borrowers manage the final elements of the return to repayment following the Fall 2024 end of the 12-month on-ramp period designed to assist borrowers who were unable to make their payments or who needed more time to access information to determine the right repayment plan for their circumstances.”
The announcement effectively ends Biden’s high-profile initiative to forgive substantial amounts of student loan debt, leaving millions of borrowers without the relief they were promised.
In a separate development, Biden approved $4.28 billion in loan forgiveness for nearly 55,000 public service workers on the same day. While this action provides relief for a small segment of borrowers, it pales in comparison to the sweeping forgiveness plan that has now been shelved.
Critics argue that the administration’s piecemeal approach fails to address the broader student debt crisis. Biden’s opponents, including former President Donald Trump and his transition team, have seized on this reversal to highlight what they call the failures of the administration’s policies.
With the 2024 election looming, President-elect Donald Trump’s team is already strategizing ways to dismantle Biden’s remaining student loan initiatives. According to reports from Politico, Trump’s advisers and conservative allies are preparing to undo Biden-era programs that created new pathways for loan forgiveness.
“President-elect Donald Trump is poised to pull the plug on President Joe Biden’s yearslong push to cancel student debt for tens of millions of people as Republicans sweep into power in the coming months,” Politico reported.
The Trump team’s efforts are part of a broader Republican push to curtail what they view as overreach by the Biden administration.
Biden’s withdrawal of the forgiveness plan comes after a series of legal and political setbacks. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a decisive 6-3 ruling against Biden’s original $400 billion loan forgiveness program, deeming it unconstitutional. The ruling was a blow to Biden’s efforts to deliver on a key campaign promise and underscored the challenges of navigating student debt relief through executive action.
In response to the Supreme Court decision, the Department of Education introduced a workaround plan, aiming to cancel $39 billion in student loans by counting non-payments as qualifying payments. However, this approach faced its own set of logistical hurdles and legal uncertainties, further complicating the administration’s efforts.
For millions of borrowers, Biden’s decision to withdraw the larger forgiveness plan feels like a betrayal. Many had banked on the promised relief, with some citing it as a reason for supporting Biden during the 2022 midterms.
“I trusted Biden to deliver on this, and now I’m left with nothing,” said one frustrated borrower. “It’s a slap in the face to every student who worked hard and still struggles under the weight of this debt.”
Republicans have been quick to criticize Biden’s approach, framing the reversal as evidence of the administration’s inability to govern effectively. On the other hand, progressive Democrats and activists argue that Biden’s failure to push through meaningful debt relief undermines his credibility with younger voters.
While Biden has redirected focus to helping borrowers transition back into repayment following the pandemic-era payment pause, this shift does little to address the broader issue of student debt. With the payment pause officially ending in Fall 2024, millions of Americans will now face mounting financial pressure without the relief they were promised.
Trump’s incoming administration is expected to take a hardline stance on student debt policies, likely rolling back any remaining Biden-era initiatives. This shift could result in even fewer pathways to relief for borrowers in the coming years.
The withdrawal of Biden’s forgiveness plan highlights the complexities of tackling America’s $1.7 trillion student debt crisis. While executive action has provided a temporary lifeline for some borrowers, it has also underscored the limitations of bypassing Congress on such a polarizing issue.
As the nation prepares for a new administration, the fate of student loan forgiveness remains uncertain. What is clear, however, is that the political tug-of-war over this issue is far from over, and millions of borrowers will continue to feel the strain of broken promises and partisan gridlock.
Ain’t NOBODY canceling “my debt”!! How stupid! Pay your own bills, I don’t care what it is for!!!
All those “educated”, hopeful ,”students” have to be dumb as schiff. How many times do these morons have to get their hopes up on a biden lie only to later be told at least twice, that THE US SC HAS DECLARED THAT THESE LOAN REPAYMENTS BY THE GOVERNMENT ARE NOT ALLOWED !! Let the colleges eat their losses for issuing useless degrees to apparently moronic “student” that have the reading levels of 6 year olds, and a comprehension level of a 4 year old. This scam should’ve been stomped on decades ago.
you had 4 years of partying and paid vacations, i worked 50 years to pay my bills, win and lose, suck it up, the bill is due
There is something I don’t understand. Someone help me out please. I have heard about Biden cancelling student debt at least 4 times in the last few years. Now this article says he is trying to cancel 38 million? Have any of the cancellations come to pass? Or have they all been knocked down?
Very spot-on! And this is to the confused young wannabe adults that have a sense of “built-in entitlement” that really “want something for nothing” along with their “safe-spaces!” Who haven’t even been out in the real world kicking it and making a living, but, somehow they’re easily led to believe they deserve “a free useless sandbox education degree” “on the hardworking tax payers back!”
I have a better idea for Y’all; get a damned job or even two or three like many folks before you did and “make your own way in the world” because “when” you are full grown mommy won’t be there “to wipe your snotty noses!” Get with “the real program” “not the Marxist lies and Leftist trash they fill your heads up with” in many colleges and universities!
Sorry to burst any bubbles out there but I’ve been “a hard working tax payer for decades, at times working 16 hours a day 5 or 6 days a week to be “a producer not a cling-on;” and the Demoncrap Party along with diabolical Joe have been “grooming” you people and “filling your heads with lies and deceptions to mold you into good little commies!” Time for “a huge dose of reality” and maybe it won’t be “too late for Y’all” if “you wake up fast and get moving!”
Biden never had the right or the authority to cancel any school debt because the Federal Government didn’t OWN any of it. They simply acted as insurers for those who could not pay for legitimate reasons. The debt is owned by private sources who loaned the money in the first place. The only way the Federal Government could end this debt is to PAY FOR IT THEMSELVES! Or rather, have the U.S. public pay for it. In which case I’d like to apply for them to re-pay me for my student loan which I paid off myself.
Get ready if you don’t want to burn in hell forever! It’s coming sooner than the world believes!
Romans 1:28-32 Amplified Bible (AMP) “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God or consider Him worth knowing [as their Creator], God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do things which are improper and repulsive, until they were filled (permeated, saturated) with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice and mean-spiritedness. They are gossips [spreading rumors], slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors [of new forms] of evil, disobedient and disrespectful to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful [without pity]. Although they know God’s righteous decree and His judgment, that those who do such things deserve death, yet they not only do them, but they even [enthusiastically] approve and tolerate others who practice them.”
Romans 1:27-29 “Likewise, the men abandoned natural relations with women and burned with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,”
Pay your debts, fulfill your contacts and keep your promises.
There’s all the education you need.
All jobs gained by this mock administration are illegal hires.
These college kids should be more concerned with the solvency of Social Security and affordable Health Benefits!
And learn how to spell Paid while there.
And stop rogue shell checking!
lol
Precisely and they better get their act together or they won’t have a country or future to build some kind of future in!
BS is “Dead On Arrival” at the SCOTUS because it was UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
Expected nothing else from this lying asshole democrats president. Biden was brain dead before he was president he’s lies about his whole career and lies to the American people and too many dumbass believed him. Biden is as corrupt as they come. Mafia Joe should of been charged with Treason but the democrats and FBI with held crucial investigation democrats from the American people Old Joes Family and Hunter stole millions and millions of dollars from other corrupt countries for Biden’s ear and for favors like billions to Ukraine and China and other countries. Even though asshole Biden is brain dead he still belongs in prison for life. Don’t care he’s incompetent he did the criminal crimes he needs to be held accountable. Remember this is the asshole who lied to you every day saying my son did nothing wrong and never got a dime of any money. And he always says No One Is Above The Law But A Biden. Wake a Americans before it’s to late democrats are full of corruption why else pardon Hunter for 11 years that means if he killed 10 people nobody can touch him criminally. We are the assholes and Biden f-cked each and every one of us.