What happened
President Joe Biden has announced a new program that would reduce the amount that 25 million borrowers owe on their undergraduate and graduate loans. Approximately 10 million would get at least $5,000 in student loan debt relief and more than four million would have their debt forgiven entirely, according to The White House.
Who said what
"We're giving people a chance to make it," Biden said after outlining the plan during a Monday visit to Madison in the swing state of Wisconsin. Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, the ranking Republican member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, called the plan an "unfair ploy to buy votes before an election" while doing "absolutely nothing" to address high education costs.
The commentary
The iconic college town of Madison "symbolizes the president's promise to make higher-education affordability a cornerstone of his economic agenda," The New York Times said. It's a promise he has "so far failed to achieve." Biden's latest loan forgiveness proposal is "illegal," The Wall Street Journal said, and a future Congress or administration might be able to "undo the lawless act."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What next?
Biden's proposal will almost certainly face conservative legal challenges as the legislative clock ticks down to the 2024 general election.
-
August 10 editorial cartoonsCartoons Sunday's political cartoons include a global plastics problem, GOP enthusiasm over tariffs, and more
-
5 thin-skinned cartoons about shooting the messengerCartoons Artists take on unfavorable weather, a look in the mirror, and more
-
Is Trump's new peacemaking model working in DR Congo?Talking Point Truce brokered by the US president in June is holding, but foundations of a long-term peace have let to be laid
-
Trump officials reinstating 2 Confederate monumentsSpeed Read The administration has plans to 'restore Confederate names and symbols' discarded in the wake of George Floyd's 2020 murder
-
Trump nominates Powell critic for vacant Fed seatspeed read Stephen Miran, the chair of Trump's Council of Economic Advisers and a fellow critic of Fed chair Jerome Powell, has been nominated to fill a seat on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors
-
ICE scraps age limits amid hiring pushSpeed Read Anyone 18 or older can now apply to be an ICE agent
-
Trump's global tariffs take effect, with new additionsSpeed Read Tariffs on more than 90 US trading partners went into effect, escalating the global trade war
-
House committee subpoenas Epstein filesSpeed Read The House Oversight Committee has issued a subpoena to the Justice Department for its Jeffrey Epstein files with an Aug. 19 deadline
-
India rejects Trump threat over Russian oilSpeed Read The president said he would raise tariffs on India for buying and selling Russian oil
-
NY's Hochul vows response to Texas gerrymanderSpeed Read Gov. Kathy Hochul has promised to play ball with redistricting that favors the Democrats
-
Texas Democrats exit state to block redistricting voteSpeed Read More than 51 legislators fled the state in protest of the GOP's plan to redraw congressional districts
