President Joe Biden promised last August to transfer up to $20,000 worth of student loans per borrower, but the program has been tied up in the courts since right after the midterm elections, and it could get the ax by the end of this month.Several reporters asked Tuesday about student loans, whether or not the Biden administration had a plan B, and what its message was to borrowers waiting to see if they'll have thousands of dollars of debt written off.
"[Our message is] that President Biden has fought for you every step of the way," principal deputy press secretary Olivia Dalton, who made her first appearance at the podium, said."The student debt relief plan he announced gives millions of student borrowers who are buried under mountains of debt a little bit more breathing room coming out of this pandemic."
She then pointed the finger at Republicans and"special interests" for questioning the legality of such a move. "We saw them introduce legislation that the president had to veto to try and gut this program," Dalton said."We saw them go all the way to the highest court in the land to try to rip away student debt relief for millions of student borrowers who desperately needed it."The Supreme Court heard arguments on the matter in February, with several members expressing deep skepticism of the move, which some estimates say will cost up to $1 trillion.