United States President Joe Biden has been accused of “slapping taxpayers in the face” by vowing to write-off $39 billion in student debt.
It comes two weeks after the Supreme Court blocked a $430 billion plan to wipe the debts of 20 million borrowers because it was unconstitutional. The move will benefit some 804,000 Americans, who have been making payments for between 20 and 25 years.
The plan fixes ‘past administrative failures’ on income-driven payment. Under the Higher Education Act, borrowers with eligible plans can have their loans forgiven after making 240 or 300 monthly payments.
However, David Williams, President of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, told the MailOnline: “This new announcement is absurd and is a slap in the face to taxpayers.
“The Biden administration is hell-bent on recklessly spending hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars bailing out wealthy student loan borrowers, even after being rebuked by the country’s highest court.”
Williams said that those who don’t have loans – more than 80 per cent of the United States population – “will be forced to subsidize the small percentage of Americans that do have loans”. He accused the Biden administration of circumventing Congress “once again”.
However, Miguel Cardona, Secretary of Education, said: “For far too long, borrowers fell through the cracks of a broken system that failed to keep accurate track of their progress towards forgiveness.
“Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is taking another historic step to right these wrongs and announcing $39 billion in debt relief for another 804,000 borrowers.”
