Betsy DeVos calls Biden's student-loan forgiveness '100% illegal' after she concluded Trump did not have the authority to cancel debt broadly when he was in office

• Betsy said Biden's student-loan forgiveness was illegal.

• She said that Trump didn't have the power to cancel student debt.

• The Education Department concluded that it has the power to do so.

The former Education Secretary is not happy with the announcement of student loan forgiveness.

Trump did not have the authority to grant broad student-loan forgiveness according to a memo released by Betsy DeVos. Up to $20,000 in student loan forgiveness was announced by Biden's department on Wednesday.

Many Democratic lawmakers and advocates hailed the relief as a significant step toward addressing the student debt crisis, but Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos did not see it that way.

—Betsy DeVos (@BetsyDeVos) August 24, 2022

After she said in June that borrowers have a lot of tools to pay off their student debt, she hoped Biden wouldn't cancel any of it.

On Tuesday, a day before Biden announced the relief, the Education Department's Office of the General Counsel released a memo of its own saying that DeVos' conclusions were "substantively incorrect."

The legality of student-loan forgiveness has been a topic of debate. The Education Department created a memo on the legality to cancel student debt, but it was not made public. Shortly after taking office, Biden said he wasn't sure if he had the authority to cancel a large amount of student debt.

Biden decided he had the authority to cancel up to $20,000 as part of the relief, despite Republican opposition, but that doesn't mean there won't be lawsuits in the future. Biden can cancel student debt by signing an executive order, and Democratic lawmakers will continue to push for more relief.

"This is an important first step to provide important relief to millions of working people struggling to make ends meet under the burden of their debt," Minnesota Rep. It's not the end of the discussion. Even a small amount of debt is not enough to make up for the millions of people who have a lot of debt. We will not stop fighting until we get rid of student debt for everyone.

Business Insider has an article on it.