President Biden asked Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to write a memo on the president’s legal powers to cancel student loan debt, including forgiveness up to $ 50,000, the chief said White House cabinet minister Ron Klain at a Politico Playbook Event Thursday.
Why is this important: Biden once said that he opposes the cancellation of $ 50,000 in student debt, opting instead for the cancellation of $ 10,000. Democrats of Congress pushed the president to increase this number. Klain said the president will make his decision after receiving the relevant notes, including one from the Department of Justice.
- Klain said Biden hopes to see the memos “in the next few weeks.”
The big picture: The Biden administration imposed new student debt relief measures, including cancel student loans for students who have been swindled by for-profit schools and putting a interest on student loans for borrowers in default.
What he says: “[Biden will] look at this [memo on] legal authority, it will look at the policy issues around it and it will make a decision, ”Klain said.
- “He hasn’t made a decision on this anyway and, in fact, he hasn’t yet received the grades he needs to start focusing on this decision,” Klain added.