President Biden said yesterday that he is considering wiping out some student loan debt and will make a final decision “in the coming weeks,” the New York Times reported. “I am considering dealing with some debt reduction,” Mr. Biden said after a speech in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. The comments were the clearest signal yet from Mr. Biden that he may make good on a promise to cancel at least some debt for student loan borrowers. During the campaign in 2020, he said he would “make sure that everybody in this generation gets $10,000 knocked off of their student debt.” The White House has been under intense pressure to provide the relief through executive action, and Mr. Biden this month extended a pause on loan payments for a fourth time. But the president made clear that his decision would disappoint at least some progressive Democrats and advocates who argue that large-scale cancellation is necessary to address economic and racial disparities and want him to wipe out $50,000 or more per borrower. “I am not considering $50,000 debt reduction,” Mr. Biden said. But he added that he was “taking a hard look” at debt forgiveness. “I’ll have an answer on that in the next couple of weeks,” he said. The timeline comes after Mr. Biden discussed the issue with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus this week in a closed-door meeting at the White House. Representative Tony Cárdenas, Democrat of California, said that Mr. Biden signaled he was open to debt forgiveness when asked if he would follow through on his $10,000 promise. In a statement, Mr. Cárdenas said he was glad to see Mr. Biden confirm that position.
