President Biden announced Friday that he is canceling $4.28 billion in student loans for nearly 55,000 public service workers as he prepares to exit the White House.
The latest round of debt forgiveness brings the total amount of canceled loans by Mr. Biden to $180 billion for nearly 5 million Americans, according to the Department of Education.
Friday’s action targets teachers, nurses, service members, law enforcement officials and others eligible under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which erases loans after a decade of work in government or nonprofit jobs.
Under Mr. Biden, roughly $78 billion in student loans for roughly 1 million borrowers has been forgiven through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. The program, which was established by President George W. Bush, had a 99% rejection rate until the Biden administration.
“From Day One of my administration, I promised to make sure that higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity,” Mr. Biden said in a statement. “Because of our actions, millions of people across the country now have the breathing room to start businesses, save for retirement, and pursue life plans they had to put on hold because of the burden of student loan debt.”
The move drew sharp criticism from Republicans, who said Mr. Biden just transferred the burden from those who racked up debt to the taxpayers.
“Eghty-seven percent of Americans don’t have student loans,” said Sen. Tommy Tuberville, Alabama Republican. “Why should they be forced to foot the bill for someone else’s debt? This isn’t loan ‘forgiveness,’ it’s debt redistribution.”
The conservative Heritage Foundation said Mr. Biden “forced” taxpayers to foot the bill for other people’s debt, noting that his debt relief plan was stopped by the Supreme Court.
“He is breaking the law in order to carry out his debt transfer scheme that has already cost every American household over $3,000,” the group said on social media.
White House officials say this is likely the last round of debt forgiveness as Mr. Biden leaves office in roughly a month. During the 2020 presidential campaign, Mr. Biden promised to forgive student loans for millions of Americans but has fallen well short of his goal amid multiple legal setbacks.
Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the administration’s first attempt at sweeping student loan forgiveness, ruling that it was an unconstitutional expansion of the president’s authority. Since then, Mr. Biden has sought more targeted approaches to forgiving debt.
President-elect Donald Trump has not said how he would handle the Biden student loan forgiveness program but has vowed to remodel the entire education system during his administration.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.