乔·拜登总统的联邦学生贷款豁免计划根据国会预算办公室本周修订的估计，将在10年内花费4000亿美元。
这一数字低于一个领先的外部估计，但无党派联邦机构的预测很快遭到了白宫的反对，白宫对政府赤字增长而不是减少的批评很敏感。
在一个信CBO周一发给北卡罗莱纳州共和党参议员理查德·伯尔(Richard Burr)和众议员弗吉尼亚·福克斯(Virginia Foxx)，对拜登上个月宣布免除高达2万美元的联邦学生贷款进行了调查，并指出，到2022年底暂停还款的成本将在4000亿美元的价格标签上再增加2000万美元。
CBO的估计不包括拜登计划的另一个特点的成本:将借款人可以偿还的最高金额从收入的10%降至5%。无党派的负责任联邦预算委员会估计，这将增加1.2亿美元。
该机构估计，CBO的分数“高度不确定”，因为其中包括对未来经济状况和未来贷款条款可能修改的预测，该分数略低于宾夕法尼亚大学沃顿商学院评价宽恕计划的所有三个组成部分将耗资约6050亿美元。
对手拜登的学生贷款计划-包括他的一些成员自己的党-坚持认为该计划在历史通胀率和高油价时期不切实际，尽管该计划的许多民主党支持者表示，该计划有助于解决教育的可负担性问题。
白宫坚持认为，与总统在其他地方促进债务削减的能力相比，学生贷款豁免计划的成本相形见绌。
估计贷款取消价格高于3亿美元的金额拜登支持的通货膨胀削减法案然而，预计将减少联邦赤字。(一名政府官员向美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)指出，总体而言，取消债务对现金流的影响在2023年将非常小，约为210亿美元。)
白宫发言人在一份声明中强调，尽管债务减免支出增加，但总统今年仍有可能减少联邦赤字，这位发言人将此与拜登的前任唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)的大规模减税进行了比较。
“拜登-哈里斯政府的学生债务减免计划为数千万工薪家庭提供了喘息空间。阿卜杜拉·哈桑说:“它让那些一直在努力偿还学生债务的人有机会创业，购买第一套住房，或者稍微轻松一点支付每月账单。“这与特朗普的税收法案形成鲜明对比，后者将赤字扩大了近2万亿美元，并为大公司和最富裕的个人提供了绝大多数好处。”
President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the National Education Association Headquarters, in Washington, DC, Aug. 23, 2022.
肖恩·休/环保局通过Shutterstock
白宫还分发了一份备忘录，反驳CBO的估计，指出它假设宽恕项目的参与率为90%，尽管类似的小规模项目的参与率要低得多。
白宫的备忘录质疑CBO是如何得出4000亿美元的，暗示该机构自己的逻辑认为这个数字在2500亿美元左右。
债务取消计划预计将于10月开放申请。
Biden's student loan forgiveness will cost $400B, new estimate says, as White House pushes back
President Joe Biden'sfederal student loan forgiveness planwill cost $400 billion over 10 years, according to a revised estimate this week from the Congressional Budget Office.
That's a lower number than from one leading outside estimate, but the nonpartisan federal agency's projection drew quick pushback from the White House, which is sensitive to criticism it is growing rather than reducing the government deficit.
In alettersent Monday to North Carolina Republicans Sen. Richard Burr and Rep. Virginia Foxx following their inquiries into Biden's announcement last month to forgive up to $20,000 in federal student loans, the CBO noted that the cost of pausing repayments through the end of 2022 will add an additional $20 million onto that $400 billion price tag.
That CBO estimate does not include the cost of another feature of Biden's plan: lowering the maximum amount a borrower can pay back to 5% of their income, down from 10%. The nonpartisan Committee for Responsible Federal Budget estimates that would tack on $120 million.
The CBO score, which the agency estimates is "highly uncertain" due to components that include projections dependent on future economic conditions and on how future terms of loans might be modified, is slightly less than the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Business Schoolassessmentthat all three components of the forgiveness plan would cost about $605 billion.
Opponentsof Biden's student loan program-- including some members of hisown party-- have insisted that the plan is impractical during a time of historic inflation rates and high gas prices, though the many Democratic supporters of the plan say it helps addresses education's affordability issues.
The White House maintains that the cost of the student loan forgiveness plan pales in comparison to the president's ability to foster debt reduction elsewhere.
The estimated loan cancellation price comes in higher than the $300 million amount that theBiden-backed Inflation Reduction Actis expected to reduce the federal deficit by, however. (An administration official noted to ABC News that, overall, the cash flow impact of debt cancellation will be very small in 2023 -- about $21 billion.)
In a statement, a White House spokesman emphasized that the president is still likely to reduce the federal deficit this year, despite the outlay for debt forgiveness, and the spokesman compared that with a major tax cut under Biden's predecessor Donald Trump.
"The Biden-Harris Administration's student debt relief plan provides breathing room to tens of millions of working families. It gives people who have been struggling with student debt that shot they want at starting a business, buying that first home, or just having a slightly easier time paying the monthly bills," Abdullah Hasan said. "It's a stark contrast to the Trump tax bill, which ballooned the deficit by nearly $2 trillion and provided the vast majority of benefits to big corporations and the wealthiest individuals."
The White House also circulated a memo pushing back on the CBO estimate, noting that it assumed a 90% participation rate in the forgiveness program -- though similar, smaller-scale programs had much lower participation.
The White House memo challenged how the CBO arrived at $400 billion, suggesting that the agency's own logic pegged the number at around $250 billion.
The debt cancellation program is expected to open for applications in October.
