Trump Knocks Biden’s ‘Vile’ Student Loan Forgiveness Plans, Suggests Reversal

President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plans are “vile,” said Donald Trump at a campaign rally this week. And if he returns to the White House, he suggested those plans could get reversed.

“He did that with the tuition and that didn’t work out too well, he got rebuked,” said Trump at a campaign rally in Wisconsin on Tuesday, likely referring to Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan that got struck down by the Supreme Court last summer. “Then he did it again, it’s going to get rebuked again, even more so, it’s an even more vile attack, but he did that with tuition just to get publicity with the election,” said Trump. It is unclear what policies Trump was referring to, as the Biden administration has unveiled several loan forgiveness initiatives designed to provide relief to student loan borrowers.

But Trump’s suggestion that Biden’s student debt relief will get “rebuked” reflects broad Republican-led efforts to strike down these plans in the courts and through Congress. And if Trump is elected in November, his administration could take further steps to weaken or even repeal multiple student loan forgiveness programs.

Biden Has Approved $167 Billion In Student Loan Forgiveness To Date

While the Supreme Court effectively killed Biden’s mass student loan forgiveness plan last summer — which would have wiped out $10,000 or $20,000 in federal student debt for most borrowers — the administration has nevertheless been able to implement unprecedented relief through other programs.

Using a variety of tools including executive action, the Education Department’s “compromise” authority, and new regulations, the Biden administration has eased or expanded access to several existing student loan forgiveness programs including Borrower Defense to Repayment for those who have been defrauded by their school; Public Service Loan Forgiveness for borrowers who work for 10 years or longer in the nonprofit or public sectors; and the Total and Permanent Disability discharge program for those who have disabling medical conditions. Many of these programs had been plagued by administrative and servicing problems for years, resulting in low approval rates or borrowers being steered into more costly repayment programs.

In addition, the Biden administration has been encouraging borrowers to enroll in the Saving on a Valuable Education plan, a new income-driven repayment option that can lower payments, halt runaway interest, and accelerate student loan forgiveness timelines for certain borrowers. Many borrowers saw their balances explode under prior versions of IDR plans due to extensive interest accrual. More than eight million borrowers have enrolled in SAVE so far.

Collectively, these initiatives have resulted in $167 billion in student loan forgiveness for nearly five million Americans, according to the latest Education Department data.

“Thanks to this Administration’s efforts, more than one out of every 10 federal student loan borrowers has now been approved for some debt relief,” said the department in a statement last month.

Biden To Unveil New Student Loan Forgiveness Initiative This Fall

The Biden administration is also preparing to unveil a new student loan forgiveness plan this fall, separate from the initiatives that have already resulted in relief for many borrowers. This new debt relief plan, intended as a second attempt at mass student loan cancellation following last year’s Supreme Court ruling, is being established through a different process and a distinct legal authority, which administration officials hope will make it more likely to withstand anticipated legal challenges.

If enacted, the new loan forgiveness program would target relief to five groups of borrowers. This includes borrowers who have experienced runaway interest, those who first entered repayment more than 20 or 25 years ago, borrowers who qualify for existing loan forgiveness plans but haven’t yet applied, former students of “low financial value” institutions, and borrowers experiencing hardship.

Trump Could Reverse Or Repeal Student Loan Forgiveness Programs

If Trump wins the presidential election this November, federal student loan forgiveness programs could be in jeopardy.

Project 2025, a comprehensive conservative policy proposal to revamp the federal government and federal programs if Trump returns to the White House, calls for dismantling many federal student loan forgiveness programs, including initiatives that pre-date the Biden administration. These include Borrower Defense to Repayment, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and loan forgiveness tied to Income-Driven Repayment plans.

“The new Administration must end the prior Administration’s abuse of the agency’s payment pause and HEA loan forgiveness programs, including borrower defense to repayment, closed school discharge, and Public Service Loan Forgiveness,” reads the proposal. “The new Administration should also take immediate steps to commence the rulemaking process to rescind or substantially modify the prior Administration’s HEA regulations” that provide debt relief to borrowers.

If Project 2025 is enacted, it would also end “interest rate subsidies or loan forgiveness” for borrowers associated with income-driven repayment plans. The Project also calls for returning the federal student loan system to private lenders — a practice that the Obama administration discontinued in 2010.

The Trump campaign distanced itself from certain elements of Project 2025 in a statement to Politico earlier this year.

Republican Efforts To Block Biden Student Loan Forgiveness Initiatives Continue

Meanwhile, Republicans at both the state and federal level continue to take steps to block or repeal the Biden administration’s student debt relief programs.

Last year, the Republican-led House of Representatives passed legislation to repeal the SAVE plan and associated student loan forgiveness benefits. However, the legislation died in the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats, and would have ultimately been vetoed by President Biden. This year, congressional Republicans unveiled a comprehensive reform bill that would eliminate student loan forgiveness associated with income-driven repayment plans and repeal Biden-era debt relief regulations.

Republican leaders at the state level are using litigation to try to block the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness initiatives. Nebraska and Kansas spearheaded legal challenges to Biden’s initial mass debt cancellation plan, which ultimately prevailed at the Supreme Court last year. Many of these same states have now filed legal challenges to try to block the new SAVE plan. A key ruling is anticipated in one of those cases at any moment. And the same states may ultimately wind up challenging Biden’s new loan forgiveness plan expected to debut this fall.