WASHINGTON D.C. – According to Reuters, President Joe Biden on Friday condemned a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that blocked his plan to cancel $430 billion in student loan debt and announced new actions to provide student loan relief in its wake.
“What I did I felt was appropriate and was able to be done and would get done,” he said Friday, in response to a question from a reporter whether he had done so. “I didn’t give borrowers false hope but the Republicans snatched away the hope that they were given and it’s real.”
The forgiveness program, estimated to cost $400 billion, would have fulfilled a campaign promise of Biden’s to cancel some student loan debt.
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He said the steps include a new path toward providing student debt relief “to as many borrowers as possible, as quickly as possible.” Biden said the approach will be consistent with today’s ruling because it will rely on a different law, the Higher Education Act of 1965.
It will allow Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, who stood alongside Biden, to “compromise, waive or release loans under certain circumstances.”
Biden said the path is legally sound, and the best option for his administration. He said his team will move as quickly as possible to put it into place.
“We’re not going to waste any time on this,” Biden said. “We’re getting moving on it. It’s going to take longer, but we’re getting at it right away.”
