Top White House advisers could not say just how much President Joe Biden’s plan to extend student loan debt relief would cost taxpayers.
Biden announced his proposal Wednesday afternoon, which would make all borrowers earning less than $125,000 per year eligible for $10,000 in relief. Pell grant recipients are eligible for an additional $10,000 in relief.
TOP OBAMA ECONOMIC ADVISER TORCHES BIDEN’S STUDENT LOAN DEBT RELIEF PLAN
“Well that remains to be determined, and it will be a function of what percentage of eligible borrowers actually take up this opportunity,” Domestic Policy Council Director Susan Rice responded when asked about the total cost of Biden’s plan during Wednesday’s press briefing. “We’ll see when they take up the opportunity. We’ll be able to give you a much better sense of that. At this point, I think it depends on the numbers.”
Bharat Ramamurti, the director of the National Economic Council, added that the administration hopes “that 100% of people who are eligible go apply for relief and get the relief that they’re entitled to” but that the White House knows that “realistically, we’re not going to get to 100%.”
“The bottom line here is that there’s all these different factors that go into the cost,” he continued. “Standing here today, I can’t tell you how all of those are going to shake out. Part of it is that the Department of Education has to actually implement this policy. They have to get the application out. We have to start getting data on how many people are applying, and I think then, when that happens, we’ll have a better sense of what the cost is going to be.”
Outside estimates have set the cost of Biden’s proposal as low as $300 billion and as high as $900 billion. Biden himself claimed earlier on Wednesday that the action is already paid for by the deficit-reducing steps he achieved through the Inflation Reduction Act.
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You can watch Wednesday’s briefing in full below.
