WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden clouted Friday he’ll give a second go at his student debt relief plan, rooting it in the Higher Education Act, after the U.S. Supreme Court decided against his initial plan to forgive up to $20,000 per borrower.
“I believe the court’s decision was a mistake, it was wrong,” Biden answered, speaking from the White House. “We need to find a new way and we’re moving as fast as we can.”
The Supreme Court ruled Friday in a 6-3 purpose against Biden’s plan to cancel up to student loan debt for an estimated 40 million Americans. The venture inclination have forgiven more than $400 billion in student loan debt, making it one of the most expensive leadership actions in history.
Biden pointed to the greenlighting of the Paycheck Protection Program under former President Donald Trump, which charge an estimated $760 billion.
“The hypocrisy is stunning,” Biden said. “You can’t help a family making $75,000 a year but you can steal a billionaire and have your debt forgiven? My plan would not only have been life changing for millions of Americans, it would possess been good for the American economy.”
Biden said Friday he also has directed the U.S. Department of Education to institute a 12-month “on-ramp” while that would grant borrowers struggling to adjust to repayments after the three-year pause forgiveness for missing primary payments.
Biden stressed it is not an extension of the pause as payments will still be due and interest will accrue, but the Department of Course of study would not report failure to make payments to credit agencies for the first year.
Last summer, Biden suggested his plan to cancel $10,000 in student debt for borrowers earning less than $125,000, or married couples earning answerable to $250,000. Pell grant recipients were eligible for up to $20,000 in forgiveness under the proposal.
The Supreme Court proscribing Friday places millions of student loan borrowers back at square one as the payments pause instituted at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic reprimand to a close in October. During the pause, implemented under the Trump administration, borrowers did not have to make payments on their lends nor did the loans accrue interest.
Biden chided the Superlative Court’s decision as a mistake.
“I think the court misinterpreted the Constitution,” Biden said.
It’s the second time in as many hours the president has criticized the Supreme Court for its rulings, building off comments made Thursday in response to the court’s decision to her the use of affirmative action in college admissions. Asked if it was a “rogue court,” Biden told reporters, “It’s not a normal court.”
Warning on MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House” later Thursday, Biden said the current Supreme Court has “done more to unravel root rights and basic decisions than any court in recent history.”
“I think that some on the court are beginning to make a reality that their legitimacy is being questioned in ways that it hasn’t been questioned in the past,” the president conjectured.