The Biden White House and Education Department released plans Monday to cancel student debt for millions of borrowers.
From Business Insider:
“According to a White House fact sheet, the new plan — if implemented as proposed — would provide debt cancellation to over 30 million borrowers when combined with prior debt relief actions. It would ‘fully eliminate’ any accrued interest for 23 million borrowers, give more than 10 million borrowers at least $5,000 in relief, and cancel 4 million borrowers' entire balances.”
Last June, the Supreme Court ruled that Biden’s initial student loan forgiveness plan was unconstitutional in a 6-3 decision. Like the previous student loan forgiveness ploy, Biden’s latest plan has not been approved by Congress, and will likely wind up in court again.
Senior White House officials insist that the new plan is consistent with the Supreme Court's decision and the law. How it is legal, however, remains unclear.
As Brown County Taxpayers Association President Rich Heidel, who previously sued the Biden Administration on debt forgiveness, stated, “What Constitutional power does Biden have to take John Q. Public’s money and pay Jane Q. Public’s school loans? Why not her mortgage, why not her car loan? How did the college-educated caste become the lucky ones? When and how does this stop? This nonsense not only defies the US Constitution – it defies common sense!”
Meanwhile, Biden’s approval ratings with young voters have been tanking. A recent NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist College national poll found that Trump is leading two points ahead of Biden among Millennial and Gen-Z voters. The polling is deeply concerning for Biden since the president relied heavily on young votes in the last election. According to Pew Research, “Gen Z and Millennial voters favored Biden over Trump by margins of about 20 points,” making young people a formidable force behind his victory in 2020.
Young voters have soured on Biden lately due to the struggling U.S. economy, the president’s support of Israel in its war with Hamas, and Biden’s failure to follow through on student loan forgiveness. It has yet to be seen whether Biden’s move to buy back young voters with a second far-fetched student loan bailout plan will actually work.
For now, young voters remain hyper-critical of Biden and the Democrat Party in general. “I'm tired of being told to go to the polls and make your voice heard,” 23-year-old Matthew Phelps told NPR in an article sampling Gen Z and Millennial voters. “We went to the polls in droves in 2020 to get Donald Trump out of office. And here we are, it feels as if nothing has changed."