WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday canceled another $4.5 billion in student debt for more than 60,000 borrowers, bringing the number of public service workers who have had their student loans for higher education forgiven to over 1 million.
The cancellation is Biden’s latest effort to fulfill his 2020 campaign pledge to deliver debt relief to millions of Americans before he leaves office in January, even as his efforts hit road blocks in the courts.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, a fellow Democrat who is seeking the White House after Biden stepped aside and faces Republican Donald Trump in the Nov. 5 contest, said she would continue to address education costs if elected, including through relief for those who utilized federal student loans.
“While Republican elected officials do everything in their power to block millions of their own constituents from receiving this much needed economic relief, I will continue our work to lower costs, make higher education more affordable, and relieve the burden of student debt,” Harris said in a statement.
Wednesday’s action brings the Biden-Harris Administration’s total approved student loan relief to $175 billion for nearly 5 million borrowers, the White House said in a statement.
It has called the current student loan system broken and maintains debt relief is needed to ensure that borrowers are not financially burdened by their decision to seek higher education.
Harris has centered her election campaign in part on her economic plans aimed at lowering living costs for middle- and lower-class Americans and boosting the economy overall, while Trump has focused on tariffs and tax cuts.
Republicans have described Biden’s student loan forgiveness approach as an overreach of authority and an unfair benefit to college-educated borrowers while others receive no such relief.
Six Republican state attorneys general have challenged Biden’s plan, saying it is up to Congress to act through legislation. Earlier this month, a U.S. judge appointed by former president Trump temporarily blocked Biden from “mass canceling” student loans until their lawsuit is resolved.
Biden had to revamp his approach after earlier plans were blocked by the courts. In August, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to revive Biden’s latest plan, giving a boost to Republicans seeking to block it.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington and Surbhi Misra in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Sharon Singleton)
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