President Joe Biden repeatedly touted his plans for student debt cancellation while campaigning for reelection earlier this year. But it’s an issue that Vice President Kamala Harris has avoided speaking about since replacing Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket.
Her platform briefly mentions it, saying that she will continue “working to end the unreasonable burden of student loan debt” but without outlining a specific plan. And that mention comes after describing in much more detail how she would help create opportunities for workers without college degrees.
Student loan cancellation was once viewed as a reliable way to energize young voters, but it is now seen as a political liability as Biden’s attempts at widespread cancellation have faced repeated legal challenges from Republican opponents.
The Biden administration moved ahead with a third attempt at broad student loan cancellation last week, focused on helping Americans who face medical bills, child care costs and other types of financial hardship that prevent them from repaying their loans. The president’s first plan, to wipe away up to $20,000 in debt for more than 40 million Americans, was blocked by the Supreme Court last year, and his second plan has been put on hold by a federal judge.
Despite the challenges, the Biden administration said earlier this month that it has cleared $175 billion in student loan debt for about 5 million borrowers through various actions.
During his debate against Harris in September, Donald Trump attacked Biden and the vice president for failing to deliver on their promise to cancel student loans. The former president called the administration’s initial plan for widespread student debt cancellation a “total catastrophe” and said it would have been “unfair” to the millions of Americans who did repay their loans.
Harris’ campaigning on the issue could give rise to further attacks from Trump and Republicans and undermine her efforts to appeal to moderate voters ahead of an election that polls indicate will be decided by razor-thin margins in battleground states.
Read more at Newsweek.com
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