Biden is trying again on student loan forgiveness

FILE - In this Jan. 25, 2021, file photo, President Joe Biden answers questions from reporters in the South Court Auditorium on the White House complex, in Washington. Biden is unlikely to confront China on trade right away because he wants to focus on the coronavirus and the economy, but he does look set to renew pressure over trade and technology grievances that prompted President Donald Trump to hike tariffs on Chinese imports in 2017. Photo Courtesy: AP

Kathmandu: President Joe Biden is making another attempt at student loan cancellation after the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that his administration couldn’t forgive $400 billion in student loan debt using a 2003 law called the HEROES Act.

The first of three hearings took place Tuesday, when more than a dozen people chosen by the Biden administration met to begin a process known as “negotiated rule-making” to try to bring cancellation to more borrowers under the authority of the Higher Education Act.

We don’t know yet who would be eligible for forgiveness or how much relief they would get.

The legal process now underway, which includes negotiators from outside the government meeting virtually for three two-day sessions, will last until mid-December.

Meanwhile, federal student loan borrowers began making payments again this month after a three-year-plus pause due to the pandemic.

(News Source: AP)