Biden's administration just kicked off the process to get student-loan forgiveness to millions of borrowers, vowing to 'work as quickly as possible under the law'
Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images
- The Education Department on Tuesday held its first public hearing on its new student-debt relief plan.
- It comes after the Supreme Court struck down Biden's first route for debt relief in June.
- Biden is attempting to use the Higher Education Act of 1965, which will take longer than the first plan.
President Joe Biden's administration has started the process to once again attempt to get student-loan forgiveness to millions of borrowers.
On Tuesday, the Education Department began its first public hearing on the administration's proposal to cancel student debt using the Higher Education Act of 1965, which allows the department to "enforce, pay, compromise, waive, or release any right, title, claim, lien, or demand" related to federal student debt. This comes after the Supreme Court on June 30 struck down Biden's plan to cancel student debt using the HEROES Act of 2003, ruling that that law was an overreach of authority and could not be used to relieve borrowers' debts in connection with the pandemic.
As opposed to the HEROES Act, the Higher Education Act requires the department to go through the negotiated rulemaking process, in which the administration has to solicit public comment and hold hearings to receive feedback from stakeholders that will shape Biden's final proposal.
At the beginning of the public hearing, Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal said that the administration's "goal is to provide debt relief to borrowers, particularly those working- and middle-class borrowers who need it most, and to recognize that far too many student loan borrowers are left with unaffordable, unreasonable, and unacceptable debts."
"We want to help borrowers who were let down by the fundamental bargain of federal student loans—that investments in yourself and your education will help lead you to a better life," Kvaal said. "By those who have seen their debts get out of hand, even as they make the payments we ask of them. We will help as many borrowers as possible, and we will work as quickly as possible under the law."
Following the public hearing, the department will announce dates for negotiation sessions and it anticipates holding three sessions at "roughly 4-week intervals," according to the federal register. As Insider previously reported, this process will take longer due to the negotiated rulemaking requirements, and many Democratic lawmakers have urged the administration to move as quickly as possible — especially with payments set to resume again in October.
Still, Republican lawmakers have remained opposed to Biden's new plan for relief — along with the administration's announcement to implement a new income-driven repayment plan to significantly lower monthly payments.
"Taxpayers just got sucker punched – again – by this administration," top Republican on the House education committee Virginia Foxx said after Biden announced the new plan for relief.
"Additionally, Biden confirmed plans to ignore the law and extend the repayment pause while also ignoring the Supreme Court and still trying to do blanket loan forgiveness," she said. "What the President is pushing is illegal, inflationary, and irresponsible."