US President Joe Biden yesterday announced new measures to relieve Americans from student loans and criticized the Supreme Court’s decision to block the implementation of his plan that would have written off hundreds of billions of dollars in student debt.

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority sided with six conservative states (Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina) that had appealed against Biden’s plan to write off $430 billion in student debt, which would benefit up to 43 million Americans.

The Court’s ruling is a blow to the 26 million Americans who applied for debt relief between August 2022, when the US president announced the measure, and November 2023, when lower courts blocked its implementation.

At the same time, it is a setback for the Democratic president, as he cancels one of his main campaign promises of 2020. However, Biden told reporters yesterday that his administration will move forward with its plans to relieve millions of Americans of their student loans in a different way.

“Nearly 90 percent of the debt relief under our plan would go to borrowers earning less than $75,000 a year, while none would go to anyone earning more than $125,000. It would change the lives of millions of Americans and their families. And it would be good for economic growth in both the short term and the long term,” Biden said in a statement.

A little later, in his televised address, the American president emphasized: “I know there are millions of Americans who feel disappointed, discouraged and maybe a little angry by the decision made by the Court today on student debt, and I have to admit that I do too.”

“Today’s decision closed one road, now we will open another,” Biden added. “I believe the Court’s decision to reject my student debt relief program was a mistake, it was wrong. I will not stop fighting to give borrowers what they need.”

In this direction, the Ministry of Education is finalizing a program that provides for the reduction of installments that must be paid by those who have received a loan for undergraduate studies to 5% of their disposable income, from the 10% that was until now.

Also, the debts of those who owe less than $12,000 will be written off after a decade of paying their loan installments, instead of 20.

Progressive voters, who contributed to Biden’s victory in 2020, have long pressed the White House to address the problem of student debt, and now the Supreme Court decision makes their demand more pressing.

In addition, about 53% of Americans supported Biden’s original plan, with 81% of Democrats in favor of writing off part of the student debt, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.