President Joe Biden is reportedly set to announce another effort to forgive or reduce student loan debts for millions of borrowers as the November election approaches.
Biden is set to announce the new plan in a speech in Wisconsin next week, according to the Wall Street Journal, as part of other ways he has worked to reduce student loans since the Supreme Court struck down a wide-ranging proposal Biden has pushed since the waning months of the 2022 election cycle.
The president will reportedly propose new rules under the Higher Education Act, which will have various categories for debt relief. The rulemaking process would put the timetable for when it could be implemented around the final months of the campaign, but it will likely face legal challenges.
Biden’s administration has announced $144 billion in student loan forgiveness since his original plan was blocked by the Supreme Court, but those efforts are now also facing legal challenges from various Republican state attorneys general.
The focus on student loan forgiveness by the Biden White House comes as polls show the president slipping with key groups, including younger voters, in the rematch against former President Donald Trump.
During the 2020 election, Biden promised to forgive swaths of student loans, but he has legally been unable to do so for many borrowers.
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It’s not clear how many borrowers would be eligible for reductions to their debts, but it will likely be in the millions. Depending on when the rule can go into effect, the resulting push could help put Biden over the edge with voters in key states.
Biden has slipped with several key Democratic groups and has launched various initiatives in recent months to try to stop the bleeding. The Biden campaign has recently made a play for Latino voters in states like Arizona, as Trump has gained in the polls among that group.
