President Joe Biden is agonizing over ordering a sweeping cancellation of student loan debt, despite pressure from Democrats — including Vice President Kamala Harris — eager for a political win before midterm elections, Bloomberg News reported. While he said last month that he’s considering “some debt reduction,” Biden has not made up his mind about many details of the plan, including how much debt to forgive per borrower, the people said. And though White House officials have debated the contours of a forgiveness program internally for more than a year, there is no real consensus on the best path forward. White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain and a deputy director of the National Economic Council, Bharat Ramamurti, are among the aides urging Biden to announce some form of student loan forgiveness. The White House’s hesitance on the issue represents the latest fracture within the Democratic party, which Biden has failed to unite around his ambitious economic agenda. But this time it’s the Democratic rank-and-file who haven’t yet persuaded the president to use his power for broad loan relief.
