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On Wednesday, President Biden announced an extension of student loan repayment forbearance through May 1, 2022.
As Republicans in Congress, aided by Joe Manchin, keep blocking much of Biden’s legislative program, the president keeps belatedly discovering reserves of unused executive power—as the Prospect has been urging him to do all year.
On Monday, Biden discovered he could use the Defense Production Act to get COVID home tests to every American. Today, he used emergency executive power to extend student loan repayment forbearance through May 1, 2022.
The current moratorium was set to end in February. As recently as two weeks ago, press secretary Jen Psaki said that Biden had no plans to extend it.
In extending student debt relief, Biden cited COVID. But even without the pandemic, student debt is its own plague, stunting the life chances of tens of millions of Americans.
Until the votes are found for a permanent program of debt relief and debt-free college going forward, extending these moratoria indefinitely is the best available policy. These serial pauses increase the pressure for a permanent reform of a program that has become a far more onerous millstone than was ever intended.
At a time when Biden’s approval ratings are underwater, student debt relief is also tangible help and smart politics. It is practical help, and easy to understand.
Voters under 30 broke for the Democrats by margins of 72-23 in 2018, and 59-35 in 2020. If Democrats stand a prayer of holding Congress in 2022, Biden needs to give voters, especially the young, reasons to turn out.
As we keep writing, there is a lot more that Biden could do with executive power, like putting teeth in Buy American, and vigorously protecting the right of workers to join unions, and hanging tough on China tariffs. The other virtue of bold executive action is that it keeps a positive spotlight squarely on Biden in a clear leadership role, rather than as bogged down in an endless legislative quagmire.
More, please.
