Biden Cancels $4.3 Billion in Student Loans: Fulfilling His Promise

Biden Cancels Student Loan: Joe Biden is giving up on cancelling student loans for over 38 million Americans, the first step in a broader plan to dump pending regulations so President-elect Trump can rework them to his advantage.

The White House will pull back unfinished rules across multiple agencies if they can’t be completed in time. If the regulations are left as is, the next administration can rewrite them and move faster on its agenda.

As the administration is pulling back the rules, it’s going through with cancellation elsewhere. The Education Department is wiping out loans for 55,000 more borrowers who qualified through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which was created by Congress in 2007 and expanded by the Biden administration.

As the pending Biden regulations are withdrawn, nothing prevents Trump from pursuing his regulations on the same issues when he returns to the White House, but he would have to start from scratch in a process that can take months or even years.

Also Read: Jaipur Tragedy: 4 Dead in Massive Fire After Chemical-Laden Truck Collision Near Petrol Pump

“This isn’t the way I wanted it to end,” said Melissa Byrne, an activist who has pushed for student debt cancellation. “Unfortunately, this is the most prudent action to take right now.”

She blamed Republicans for putting the Biden administration in this position. “It’s a bummer that we have a GOP that is committed to keeping working-class Americans in debt,” Byrne said.

The withdrawals are starting as Washington prepares for a potential government shutdown that will make it even harder for the Biden administration to wrap up loose ends.

Another rule that may be withdrawn would have prohibited schools from issuing blanket bans on transgender athletes. Trump could re-write the pending Title IX change to bar transgender athletes from playing in girls’ sports, one of his campaign promises.

Also Read: Congress Slams FIR Against Rahul Gandhi for ‘Defending Ambedkar’s Legacy’: Calls It a ‘Badge of Honour

An administration official, speaking on background to discuss internal deliberations, said the administration still supports the goals of the rules. However, it takes time because the rules have to undergo legal review and get public comment.

Federal agencies are now analyzing which rules to finish and which to pull back before the end of Biden’s term, the official said.

In recent years presidents have been using executive orders and federal regulations to get around Congress. But the rulemaking process is less durable than legislation so policies are more vulnerable to changes in administrations.

There are dozens of other regulations pending across the Education Department and other agencies from minor tweaks to big-deal policies that impact the nation’s schools and businesses.

If a rule has already gone through a public comment period under Biden, Trump could just replace it with his proposal and go straight to implementing the policy, skipping the comment period.

The pair of student loan proposals expected to be withdrawn Friday represented Biden’s second attempt at widespread debt cancellation after the Supreme Court rejected his first plan.

Also Read: ASI Surveys Newly Discovered Temple and Wells in Sambhal