White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki reversed President Joe Biden’s claim that he does not support a federal bailout for student loan debt during a press conference Wednesday.
President Joe Biden said Tuesday night at a CNN town hall that he would not support bailing out graduates with $50,000 loan forgiveness unless the legislation is narrowly tailored.
But within twenty-four hours the White House has corrected course, saying the Administration is indeed weighing options to forgive up to $50,000 in student debt.
Pressed on the reversal, Psaki said, “He was reiterating his previous stated position, which is that he doesn’t favor $50,000 in student loan relief without limitations,” additionally noting that Biden “will ask them [the Department of Justice] to conduct a legal review of his authority to act on executive action in conjunction with a policy review from his Domestic Policy Council on how executive action debt relief, if any, should be targeted.”
The Justice Department has yet to assemble a team to review the unprecedented proposal because the Administration is only a month old. The bipartisan nonprofit Committee for a Responsible Budget claims that President Biden’s loan forgiveness program will ultimately do more harm than good.
“In the meantime, if Congress moves forward and sends him a package that provides him [Biden] $10,000 in school debt relief, he’d be eager to sign that,” Psaki noted.