Student Debt Cancellation Tests Progressives’ Sway Under Biden

Joe Biden embraced progressive demands for student debt cancellation after he won the Democratic nomination. Whether he agrees to use executive authority to grant loan relief will test how much influence progressives hold in his administration.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has been pushing for automatic loan forgiveness for student borrowers in response to the coronavirus pandemic. In prodding President Donald Trump to act, she said he didn’t have to wait for Congress because he had the authority to grant that relief himself.

Now Warren and other progressives have Biden to convince.

Warren and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) introduced ...