Biden admin looks to lock in legacy on immigration and death penalty as it abandons other proposals
The Biden administration is using its waning days in office to make a final mark ahead of the incoming Trump White House.
It announced Friday it would forgive another $4.28 billion in student debt for 54,900 borrowers who pursued careers in public service, bringing Biden’s total to some $180 billion of forgiveness overall, the largest sum of debt forgiveness from any president in U.S. history.
At the same time, the administration said it would scrap further forgiveness proposals from the U.S. Department of Education, noting “uncertainty around the implementation” given Trump’s impending inauguration.
“The Department at this time intends to commit its limited operational resources to helping at-risk borrowers return to repayment successfully,” Education Secretary Migual Cardona wrote in official notices.
The Education Department also announced it would give up on a proposed rule from 2023 that would punish schools which prevented transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports.
Twenty-three states have such policies in place, and the Biden administration has already faced legal challenges over discrimination policy, after declaring the Title IX ban on sex discrimination at federally funded educational institutions includes differential treatment based on gender identity, sexual orientation, or pregnancy and related conditions.
Despite these cancellations, Biden is also reportedly mulling a few final, high-profile moves on campaign priorities.
The president, the first to openly oppose capital punishment, is reportedly considering commuting the sentences of most or all 40 people on federal death row into life sentences.
Attorney General Merrick Garland has reportedly recommended such a move for most detainees, other than for those involved in terror and hate attacks, including Boston Bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The Biden administration paused federal executions, and the Department of Justice commenced a review of capital punishment policies, but the DOJ and military has continued seeking death sentences in some cases, including for the 9/11 plotters at Guantánamo.
The Trump administration is expected to restart federal killings.
The previous Trump term saw 13 executions, more than four times as many federal executions than occured over the previous 50 years.
Biden is also considering extending Temporary Protect Status protections for migrants in the U.S. from unstable countries, including Haiti, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
There are currently an estimated 1 million TPS beneficiaries in the U.S. form 17 nations.
