Biden's student loan relief plan will cost $400 billion. Republicans call it 'unsustainable' and Democrats say it will give 'Americans more breathing room.'

At the end of August, President Joe Biden fulfilled a long-awaited campaign promise and canceled up to $20,000 in student loan debt for some borrowers.

The Congressional Budget Office says it will cost $400 billion, plus $20 billion from outstanding loan payments and interest being paused through December. The $400 billion comes from the difference between how much borrowers were expected to repay before cancelation was announced and how much they will pay now.

The figure is worse than the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget thought. The debt cancellation is only one part of it. The income driven repayment reforms are not accounted for.

"It's almost unthinkable that the administration would announce such a large policy and not even know, or not even tell us how much it costs," Goldwein said.

GOP concerns over the cost of Biden's policy will likely get a boost from this figure. The estimates came in response to questions raised by the two congressmen. In the past, Foxx has introduced legislation to block Biden's relief plan.

The Republican from North Carolina said that the estimate shows that the administration has lost sense of fiscal responsibility. President Biden has decided to bury the American people under our unsustainable debt instead of working with Congress to bring down college costs.

The government was losing money on federal student loans before Biden canceled them. Major expenditures from the administration include $796 billion on defense in 2022.

Black and Latino students will be disproportionately affected by the student loan relief. According to a Census Bureau report, Black and Hispanic women will see the biggest reductions in their student loan debt. Insider has previously been told that the relief is life changing.

"Today's CBO estimate makes clear that millions of middle class Americans have more breathing room thanks to President Biden's historic decision to cancel student debt," said Senators Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer.

"We don't agree with all of CBO's assumptions that underlie this analysis," they said, "but it is clear the pandemic payment pause and student debt cancellation are policies that demonstrate how government can and should invest in working people, not billionaires."