WASHINGTON — The White House could not risk appearing caught off guard.
After the Supreme Court threw out President Joe Biden’s plan to ease the burden of student debt, he moved quickly Friday to reassure core Democratic voters that he would find a way to deliver on one of his top campaign promises.
Within minutes of the 6-3 court ruling, the White House issued a statement saying Biden “isn’t done fighting yet” and had “prepared for this scenario.” After learning of the ruling from top advisers, Biden met privately with them to consider next steps, White House officials said.
Later in the afternoon, he presented new plans that the White House it said it would ensure that financially “vulnerable” borrowers who do not make payments until the end of September 2024 are not considered delinquent. He also announced new payment options that would be available to borrowers.
“It’s going to take longer,” the president said in brief remarks from the White House, “but, in my opinion, it’s the best path left to bring debt relief to as many borrowers as possible.”
Biden faces a tough re-election campaign and can’t afford to leave young and minority voters upset about having to make student loan payments they thought could be forgiven or significantly reduced. After a hiatus that began in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic, payments will now resume in the fall.
In the run-up to the court’s decision, Biden’s allies warned him that he needed to come up with an alternative plan if the judges threw out his loan-forgiveness program. black college graduates owes about $25,000 more than their white counterparts and have the most to lose if Biden doesn’t find a way to provide comprehensive debt relief, an issue that has energized a loyal bloc of Democratic voting.
“We have generated income, but not wealth, so black students borrow and don’t pay back at higher rates,” Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Massachusetts, said in an interview after the ruling was issued.
“The White House must act. This decision has drastically altered the lives of forty-three million people,” he added, referring to the number of people who would have benefited from Biden’s initial student loan plan. “This will keep people up at night and they deserve this relief. A promise is a promise.”
In recent weeks, White House officials gave no indication of their preparations for the Supreme Court ruling. However, once the decision was made, they moved quickly in an effort to show voters that they were prepared.
Several weeks ago, White House chief of staff Jeff Zients began leading weekly meetings to develop options should the court strike down the program, officials said. White House aides met with allies in Congress along with student loan relief advocates as they examined possible solutions.
Biden’s plan would have allowed borrowers to erase up to $20,000 in student loan debt, at a total cost of about $400 billion. The program, launched in August, proved popular with younger voters.. A poll in late May by Data Progress, a progressive polling company, and the nonprofit group Student Borrower Protection Center, found that 77 percent of voters under age 45 were in favor of the proposition, compared to 18 percent opposed.
It is now crucial that Biden take meaningful action, liberal groups said, adding that doubts on the part of the White House could spark a backlash from voters.
“He has to figure this out,” said Natalia Abrams, president of the Student Debt Crisis Center. “It is inconceivable that these people would make a payment on October 1 when the President of the United States told them they didn’t have to. He has to keep his campaign promise and his promise as president.”
Biden’s standing among young voters has been up and down for most of his presidency. He launched your plan to forgive student loan debt at a time when his job ratings among young voters were dismal. Just 36 percent of people ages 18 to 34 approved of his performance at the time, compared with 58 percent who disapproved.
A dramatic shift followed the unveiling of his plan: Biden’s approval rating among younger voters rose by a net 25 percentage points. In September, 48 percent approved of her performance, compared with 45 percent who disapproved.
Biden has broadened his support among young voters of late, but is still nowhere close to matching the approval ratings of the last Democratic president, Barack Obama. At a comparable point in Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 approved of his performance by a 20-point margin. For Biden, the margin this month was just 7 points, the NBC News poll shows.
Advocates credit Biden for addressing ways to reduce $1.75 trillion in outstanding student debt. However, before the Supreme Court ruling, they warned that he was the owner of the problem, regardless of what the judges decided.
In a recent letter To Biden, NAACP officials Derrick Johnson and Wisdom Cole wrote: “Let’s be clear: Absent more swift action in the wake of an unfavorable court ruling, Black voters are incredibly disappointed in an administration that failed to deliver. the key requirements. campaign promises, but succeeded in widening the racial wealth gap and propelling their families, friends, neighbors and colleagues into economic uncertainty.”
The court’s ruling may open a new front in the presidential campaign: the sweeping social changes stemming from the Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative majority. In a ruling released Thursday, the court struck down affirmative action programs intended to give minorities more opportunities to attend elite colleges and universities. Last year, the court struck down Roe v. Wade, rescinding the constitutional right to abortion that had stood for half a century.
Former President Donald Trump cemented the court’s conservative majority with his three appointments, a connection Biden is sure to make as the 2024 campaign unfolds, with a possible rematch against his 2020 opponent.
“This is not a normal court,” Biden told reporters after the court issued its affirmative action ruling.
