During a campaign speech in Wisconsin, former President Donald Trump said Biden's student-debt cancellation plans are "publicity for the election."
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Former President Donald Trump is making sure voters know how he feels about student-loan forgiveness.
During a Tuesday campaign rally in Wisconsin, Trump delivered a more than an hourlong speech on topics ranging from immigration to national security to the economy.
He also used that time to criticize President Joe Biden, particularly Biden's efforts to enact student-loan forgiveness for millions of Americans.
"He's throwing money out the window," Trump said in his remarks.
"This student program, which is not even legal, I mean it's not even legal, and the students aren't buying it, by the way," he said. "His polls are down. I'm leading in young people by numbers that nobody's ever seen before."
A Harvard Youth Poll released in April found that among people aged 18 to 29, Biden was leading Trump at 45% compared to 37%, but still a reduction from his youth support in 2020.
Trump also referred to the Supreme Court striking down Biden's first attempt at broad student-loan forgiveness last summer, saying that "he got rebuked and then he did it again. It's going to get rebuked again even more," calling it "vile" and an attempt to get "publicity for the election."
The same day as the Supreme Court decision last June, Biden's Education Department announced it would be pursuing a new route for debt relief using the Higher Education Act of 1965. The Act requires the administration to undergo a process known as negotiated rulemaking, which entails a series of negotiation sessions with stakeholders and a period of public comment before it can be implemented.
The department recently concluded the public comment period, and it plans to start implementing the relief — expected to benefit over 30 million Americans — this fall. However, conservative groups have already voiced opposition to the plan, and it's highly likely it will once again run into lawsuits that could delay or block the relief.
The presidential election also presents uncertainty surrounding the fate of student-loan forgiveness. Should Biden win, his administration will continue carrying out its broad and targeted debt relief efforts such as one-time account adjustments for borrowers on income-driven repayment plans and Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
Given Trump's opposition toward debt cancellation, his potential second term would likely cease any of the Biden administration's work to cancel student debt.
This isn't the first time Trump has criticized student-debt relief. He previously called Biden's first attempt at broad relief an "election enhancing money grab." After the Supreme Court decision, his campaign posted a statement on his website saying that "these wins were only made possible through President Trump's strong nomination of three distinguished and courageous jurists to the Supreme Court."
Still, Biden's Education Department is moving forward with its relief efforts and has maintained that all of its actions are in accordance with the law and the Supreme Court decision. Along with its broader second attempt at relief, the Education Department began canceling student debt for borrowers on the SAVE plan who borrowed $12,000 or less originally and made as few as 10 years of qualifying payments.
While GOP state attorneys general launched two separate lawsuits seeking to block that relief, a court has yet to issue a final decision and the administration is still moving forward.
