President Joe Biden's decision to cancel at least $10,000 of federal student loan debt for most borrowers was welcome news for progressives, who hailed it as the culmination of years of pressing for student loan relief, but several moderate voices disagreed and slammed the move as reckless.
President Joe Biden is in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. The photo was taken by Evan Vucci.
The decision was championed by prominent progressives including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
The most left-leaning senator called the move a big deal, but said we need to do more to make college more affordable.
The vast majority of elected Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, supported Biden's plan, even though Schumer tried to get Biden to forgive $50,000.
Some voices associated with the moderate wing of the GOP were in favor of debt forgiveness.
The economist who served as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under Barack Obama was one of the few moderate Democrats to publicly oppose the move.
Larry Summers, who served in economic roles under President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton, has long voiced concern about canceling student loan debt.
There were 21 posts on Donald Trump's Truth Social platform after the White House announcement, but none of them mentioned the student loan forgiveness. The FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago was Trump's focus.
The White House said Wednesday that Biden will cancel student loan debt for borrowers who make less than $125,000 a year and for those who don't have a college degree. Student loan repayments will be paused for one last time through the end of the year. Biden's campaign promises included a vow to cancel $10,000 in student debt per borrower, but he reportedly agonized over whether he had the legal authority to do so without congressional approval. The White House brushed off concerns that student debt forgiveness could lead to high rates of inflation, even though economists are divided on the issue. According to a recent CNBC/Momentive poll, many people are concerned about debt forgiveness contributing to inflation.
A poll finds that most Americans worry that student loan forgiveness will make inflation worse.
Here's who benefits most and least from Biden's student loan forgiveness plan.
Here are the key events as reported by the report.
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