Even before he took office, President Donald Trump was already securing major policy wins. Trump’s election induced the Biden administration to withdraw two pending regulations that would have canceled over $250 billion in federal student loans, without congressional approval. Biden officials judged that they did not have enough time to finalize the loan cancellation plans before the new administration takes over.
Conservatives can take a victory lap on student loan cancellation, but they should remember that the underlying problems in the federal student loan program remain unsolved. Even without cancellation, millions of students are unlikely to repay their loans in full, simply because they borrowed too much relative to the economic value of their education. Fortunately, the new administration has tools at its disposal to fix this problem.
