Biden’s Student Debt Gamble Unlikely to Drum Up Voter Enthusiasm

The White House is teasing student debt action before the 2022 midterm elections, with press secretary Jen Psaki telling fellow Democrats that President Joe Biden will either extend his federal loan payment moratorium beyond the summer or cancel some debt.

But delivering a campaign promise may not drum up the enthusiasm Biden and Democrats need if the party is to hold on to any congressional power next year.

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Progressive Change Campaign Committee co-founder Adam Green described student debt forgiveness as extremely popular. Green cited a Politico/Morning Consult poll this week that found voters endorse some loan relief by a 2-to-1 margin. He said it could “reignite” support for Biden and Democrats before November.

“The Democratic coalition depends on rehabilitating support from young voters, and canceling student loan debt would certainly help address that,” Green told the Washington Examiner.

The PCCC also circulated a petition based on Psaki’s Pod Save America podcast student debt forgiveness comments and asked the political action committee’s members for loan-related stories to share with the administration and the news media.

“Psaki said, ‘Between now and Aug. 31, [the freeze on payments] is either going to be extended or we’re going to make a decision, as [White House chief of staff] Ron [KLAIN] referenced, about canceling student debt,'” the email read.

“Now is the time for the White House to see overwhelming public demand and grassroots engagement,” it read.

One Democratic Senate staffer agreed student debt action could “change voting decisions for many.” And Costas Panagopoulos, Northeastern University’s political science chairman, contended honoring campaign promises was rarely detrimental for a candidate.

“Conversely, failure to act on student debt or other top priorities for young voters could alienate them, possibly for years to come,” he said.

Darrell West, the Brookings Institution’s governance studies vice president, asserted student debt was a concern for the broader electorate amid “inflation, COVID, and high housing costs.”

“Anything that cuts their costs would help keep the economy rolling,” he said. “Biden has considerable authority through executive action to make these policy moves, and it doesn’t require congressional action.”

But independent political analyst Dan Schnur, now with the University of Southern California, argued the number of voters for which student debt is a wedge issue was small.

“But Biden needs to motivate the Democratic base, and except for a new Supreme Court justice, he doesn’t have a lot to offer,” he said. “So smaller-scale policy changes like this one might be his best bet for getting party loyalists to turn out in November.”

George Mason University politics professor Jeremy Mayer remained unconvinced Biden would be rewarded for student debt action.

“It’s probably going to have a small inflationary effect, though,” Mayer said. “Inflation is really hurting Biden more than anything right now.”

Former Democratic treasury secretary and National Economic Council Director Larry Summers has voiced similar concerns. The outspoken economist has criticized Biden’s student debt deferral as “regressive, uncertainty creating, untargeted” and “a macroeconomic step in the wrong direction.”

Biden extended the federal student debt repayment pause this month to Aug. 31. The news is estimated to ease the financial burdens faced by 41 million people. But in his announcement, the president had implored borrowers to prepare to pay the government back or explore the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, for example.

One day before Psaki spoke to Pod Save America, she emphasized Biden’s willingness to sign a bill canceling $10,000 in student debt if Congress passed one. Her answer was in response to a question regarding Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer saying that the president “seems more open to it than ever before.”

“There hasn’t been any decision made about other executive actions,” Psaki told reporters as Democrats, such as Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, urge Biden to forgive $50,000 per borrower unilaterally.

Last week, Psaki avoided queries about whether the White House would disclose an Education Department report on Biden’s presidential student debt cancellation authority.

“Not a single person has paid a dime on their student loans since the president took office,” she said. “He’s continued to evaluate and assess with the Department of Education and other policymakers in the administration what the needs are to lower costs for people, including people who have student loans and do feel stressed, even as the economy is continuing to recover but as we see costs too high in some areas.”

Biden underscored his other education investments this week while in North Carolina, promoting the more than $5 billion provided to historically black colleges and universities last year through the American Rescue Plan and other sources.

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“We’re also working to increase Pell Grants to help millions of black students in lower-income families attend community colleges and four-year schools,” he said at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.