President Joe Biden expressed assurance in the viability of his student debt cancellation plan during a late-night television interview on Monday, a reversal from his previous comments that suggested the US Supreme Court could strike it down.
(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden expressed assurance in the viability of his student debt cancellation plan during a late-night television interview on Monday, a reversal from his previous comments that suggested the US Supreme Court could strike it down.
“I think they’re going to have to rule that it was appropriate for what I did,” Biden said on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, speaking to guest host Kal Penn, an actor and former staffer in the Obama administration.
“It’s just so short-sighted if they don’t,” he added.
The comments differ from what Biden said earlier this month, when he told reporters that he was confident in his plan, but “not confident about the outcome of the decision yet.”
The program proposes forgiving as much as $20,000 of federal student debt for borrowers whose income is under $125,000, or for households making under $250,000 annually.
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The Supreme Court’s conservative majority expressed skepticism about the White House’s plan during arguments in February. Some legal scholars have said the proposal faces a narrow path to surviving.
The court is weighing two legal challenges, one from a group of Republican-led states and the other from two individual borrowers from Texas. A decision on whether the program can proceed is expected before a recess in late July.
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