President Joe Biden announced last week that he would run again in 2024, setting up a possible rematch with ex-president Donald Trump.
Given how close the voting has been in a handful of key swing states, there is no assurance that Biden will be victorious in 2024, despite his previous victory. In the interim, student loan forgiveness is uncertain.
Biden Faces Multiple Challenges in 2024 Election Bid
Biden faces a number of challenges in 2024, including his advanced age and low approval rating, as well as an uncertain economy that may be headed for a recession. Even the majority of Democrats (51%) oppose Biden running for reelection.
This is the case despite the president’s significant accomplishments, such as the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, the $1 trillion infrastructure bill, and the Inflation Reduction Act, which poured billions of dollars into green energy and healthcare.
Biden has not (yet) achieved a federal student loan forgiveness program that would cancel up to $20,000 in debt per borrower.
A number of lawsuits have been filed against this plan since its unveiling in August 2022; the U.S. Supreme Court is currently reviewing them.
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Supreme Court Reviews Biden’s Student Debt Relief Plan
A failure to provide student debt forgiveness could harm Biden among millions of younger voters who relied on the plan to provide financial relief in an inflationary environment.
In addition, the nation’s highest court heard oral arguments in two cases that halted the implementation of President Joe Biden’s plan to forgive up to $20,000 in student debt for federal borrowers earning less than $125,000 annually.
In November, the relief was put on hold due to two lawsuits supported by conservatives: one filed by two student-loan borrowers who did not qualify for the full $20,000 amount of relief, and another filed by six Republican-led states who argued the relief would harm their states’ tax revenues and the revenue of student-loan company MOHELA.
Conservative and liberal justices’ lines of questioning were largely divergent.
To cancel student debt, Biden would have to invoke the HEROES Act of 2003, which grants the Education Secretary the authority to waive or modify student-loan balances in the event of a national emergency. However, the majority of the court’s conservative justices appeared skeptical of Biden’s authority to invoke this law.
Therefore, it is currently unclear how the Supreme Court will rule, but the Biden administration has maintained its confidence in the legality of its debt relief plan.
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