White House leaning toward canceling $10,000 in student loan debt for borrowers who make less than $125,000
By MJ Lee and Phil Mattingly, CNN
White House officials have been weighing — and leaning toward — the cancellation of up to $10,000 in student loan debt per borrower tied to an income threshold, CNN has learned.
According to multiple sources familiar with the discussions, the plan is designed to offer the forgiveness to individuals who earn less than $125,000 per year.
In addition to that baseline of student loan debt forgiveness for individuals who fall under a certain income level, administration officials have also recently discussed the possibility of additional forgiveness for specific subsets of the population, according to sources familiar with internal discussions in the administration.
The announcement could come as early as Wednesday, but it is not clear that a final decision on the details of the announcement — as well as the timing — has been made, and there could always be eleventh hour changes. The White House is also expected to address in the coming days whether to extend again the current pause on federal student loan payments, which is set to expire on August 31.
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
In recent days, White House officials have been in communication with lawmakers to discuss their thinking on student loan debt forgiveness, ahead of the current pause on payments expiring. Last week, for example, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia, had a discussion with senior White House officials, sources said.
The White House has suggested in the past that Biden was considering canceling $10,000 per borrower but excluding those who earn more than $125,000 a year.
Setting an income cap, which has been the subject of intense debate both inside and outside the administration, was also crafted as a buffer against criticism that the forgiveness would benefit those with the means to manage their debt payments.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
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