President Biden announced his new plan to provide student debt relief to millions of Americans in Wisconsin, a battleground state that is pivotal to his reelection bid.
The White House on Monday announced the plan to give relief to 25 million borrowers who owe more money than they did at the start of repayment because of the interest rate on federal student loans. The president touted the plan in Wisconsin, tying it to his overall economic agenda and efforts to combat inflation.
“It’s not just a drag on them, it’s a drag on our local economies,” Biden said about student loan debt. “When you can’t afford to buy a home, start that small business, chase that career that you’d been dreaming about for a long time.”
He said that the new plan means Americans “can finally get on with their lives instead of their lives being put on hold.”
The president, who vowed to provide student debt relief while running for president in 2020, blamed Republican for blocking his original plan to provide relief to 40 million American that the Supreme Court struck down in June.
“Tens of millions of peoples’ debt was literally about to get canceled but them some of my Republican friends, elected officials, and special interests sued us and the Supreme Court blocked us,” he said. “But that didn’t stop us… we continue to find alternative paths to reduce student loan payments that are not challengeable.”
“Folks, I will never stop delivering student debt relief,” he added.
The new plan, if finalized, will almost certainly be challenged in court. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said earlier on Monday that while the White House can’t prevent Republicans from filing lawsuits against it, Biden will “never stop fighting on behalf of borrowers.”
This plan would mean that more than 30 borrowers have received student debt relief during the Biden administration. Biden has already provided debt relief for 4 million borrowers, which equated to $146 billion in student debt, through executive actions like making fixes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and has made other efforts to provide relief.
The administration is aiming to implement this plan as early as fall 2024, which could be just weeks before election day.
Biden’s reelection campaign has been focused on swing states, including Wisconsin, to rebuild the coalition that won him the White House in 2020.
This is Biden’s second trip to Wisconsin in recent weeks. Biden traveled to every battleground state in March, in the weeks after his State of the Union address, and while in Wisconsin, he visited his election campaign office.
Biden won Wisconsin with 49.6 percent, compared to former President Trump’s 48.9 percent, in 2020.