Debt Cancellation Backer at Harvard Named to Education Post (1)

A vocal proponent of canceling student loan debt is joining the Biden administration in a top role at the Education Department’s Office of the General Counsel.

Toby Merrill, who founded and directed the Project on Predatory Student Lending at Harvard Law School, will serve as deputy general counsel. The Education Department announced her hiring, along with several other political appointees, on Tuesday.

Merrill joins the agency as President Joe Biden’s administration prepares for an ambitious rulemaking that’s expected to reshape loan-relief options for struggling student borrowers and others who have been defrauded or misled by their colleges.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, pictured at the Capitol on June 22, 2021, is pressing the Biden administration to forgive as much as $50,000 of a borrower’s college loans.

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The administration, under ...