At a CNN town hall in February, Biden said he
doesn't have the executive authority to cancel up to $50,000 in student debt per person, but said he is prepared to cancel $10,000 — something he campaigned on. The same month, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki
told reporters that Biden will ask the Justice Department to review his legal authority to cancel $50,000 in student debt. Biden's administration has not yet commented on the status of the Justice Department's review.
However, Insider
reported that he has yet to deliver on that campaign promise, and while Biden said he would support legislation brought to him to cancel $10,000 in student debt, Democrats argue that legislation takes too long, and the president can cancel debt immediately using his executive authority.
"We have a lot on our plate, including moving to infrastructure and all kinds of other things," Warren
said in a February press call. "I have legislation to do it, but to me, that's just not a reason to hold off. The president can do this, and I very much hope that he will."
And White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain told Politico in April that Biden had asked Cardona to
create a memo on the president's legal authority to forgive $50,000 in student loans per person.
Biden will "look at that legal authority," Klain said. "He'll look at the policy issues around that, and he'll make a decision. He hasn't made a decision on that either way, and, in fact, he hasn't yet gotten the memos that he needs to start to focus on that decision."