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2024.07.18 17:07 GMT+8

Biden cancels additional $1.2 billion in student debt

Updated 2024.07.18 19:36 GMT+8
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U.S. President Joe Biden clears his throat as he speaks on economics at the College of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., July 16, 2024. /CFP

U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday canceled another $1.2 billion in student debt for 35,000 borrowers, bringing the total number of people who benefited from his debt relief push to 4.76 million, despite Republican opposition.

Republicans have called the Democratic president's student loan forgiveness approach an overreach of authority and an unfair benefit to college-educated borrowers when others receive no such relief.

Each of the beneficiaries under the plan will receive $35,000 in debt cancellation, the White House said in a statement.

Biden, keen to shore up waning support among young people ahead of the November presidential election, had pledged last year to find other avenues for tackling debt relief after the Supreme Court had blocked his broader plan to cancel $430 billion in student loan debt.

In May, Biden canceled $7.7 billion in student debt for 160,000 borrowers.

Source(s): Reuters
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