President Biden is announcing new efforts to cancel student debt for more than 30 million Americans by this fall, even as red states move to challenge him for a plan that they say ignores a Supreme Court ruling from last year.
Mr. Biden and other top administration officials will pitch the new plan on Monday that seeks to fulfill a campaign pledge as the general election draws near. This is his second attempt at canceling large sums of student debt after the Supreme Court denied an earlier attempt at student loan cancellation last year.
Trouble is once again mounting for the president as 11 states, led by Kansas, are suing over the Saving on a Valuable Education plan, which has already canceled loans for more than 150,000 borrowers since it was made available to more than 40 million Americans last year. The states say that only Congress, not the Education Department, has the authority to alter student loan repayment plans.
“The law simply does not allow Biden to do what he wants to do,” Kansas’s attorney general, Kris Kobach, said in a statement. “Biden is trying to exercise the powers of a king rather than the powers of a President in a constitutional republic.” Mr. Kobach did not immediately respond to the Sun’s request for comment on Mr. Biden’s latest scheme. Republican critics also say the SAVE plan is unfair to Americans who have repaid their student debts and to those who did not go to college.
Mr. Biden is aiming to provide a faster path to loan forgiveness and lower monthly payments as student debt surges in America. The plan could be seen as an attempt to revive support from the youngest bloc of the electorate, who have historically supported the Democratic candidate for president. In 2024, though, young Democrats are fed up over Mr. Biden’s support for Israel in its war with Hamas.
Mr. Biden is bleeding young voters to President Trump, according to some surveys. A new NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist College national poll shows Mr. Trump 2 points ahead of Mr. Biden among Millennial and Gen-Z voters, though Mr. Biden leads with voters 45 years and older. A Fox News poll last month suggests Mr. Trump led Mr. Biden among voters under 30 by an even bigger margin of 18 points.
The 2024 election polling could be flawed. It is, however, signaling a generational shift that could further boost the chances of President Trump, who polls narrowly head off Mr. Biden in most swing states.
M.J. KOCH
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