Biden’s signature education policy in 2022 needs a lifeline in 2023

The administration has made it easier for bankrupt borrowers or those who have been defrauded by their university to cancel their debt. This spring, the Department of Education plans to pull millions of borrowers out of default through a “fresh start” initiative and will retroactively grant millions of other borrowers credit for loan forgiveness. Department officials will also reveal details of Biden’s new income-driven repayment plan in the coming months to cap interest and monthly payments for borrowers.

“These are all pieces of a larger puzzle,” said Sarah Sattelmeyer, project director for education, opportunity, and mobility at New America, a left-wing think tank.

“Many of these things have been on lawyers’ wish lists for a long time,” she said. “Now they’re about to happen, and the big question for 2023 is how we can implement them.”

While the White House is publicly expressing confidence that his program is legal and will make it through the Supreme Court, there are already rumors on the left about how Biden should respond to a legal defeat.

One option would be for the Department of Education to invoke another statutory power to cancel debt if the Supreme Court rejects the Biden administration’s argument that a 2003 law gives it emergency power to cancel debt in response to the Covid-19 crisis. 19 pandemic.

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