Biden has been sitting on a student-debt memo for over 6 months that could wipe out billions – but he won’t reveal what it says

• Biden's administration has said for months they are assessing his legal authority to broadly cancel student debt.
• Newly released documents obtained by the Debt Collective show a memo on this has existed since April, and possibly since February.
• Pressure is ramping up on Biden to release the results of the memo and give borrowers relief before payments resume in February.

Americans first heard that the Education Department would be reviewing President Joe Biden's legal ability to cancel student debt broadly on April 1, when White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain broke that news to Politico. But while Klain said that review would take a few weeks, it's been nearly seven months, and the public has yet to see the results.

But newly released documents show the memo existed just days after Klain announced the review.

The New Yorker first reported that the Debt Collective – the nation's first debtors' union – obtained documents and internal Education Department emails via a Freedom of Information Act request that showed a first draft of the memo, titled "The Secretary's Legal Authority for Broad-Based Debt Cancellation," has existed since April 5. The memo appeared to the public as six pages of pink redactions, and according to the internal emails, was circulated within White House leadership on the same day.

Insider spoke with the Debt Collective about the implications of the secret memo.

The memo could've existed as early as February

An Education Department official wrote on April 3 that following Klain's comments, the department will "likely be preparing an updated version of the memo prepared in February," the same month White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki first said the administration is "reviewing" debt cancellation actions.

On April 8, according to the documents, the word "draft" was removed from the header, and the memo assumed a new title that referenced the HEROES Act - the law both Biden and President Donald Trump used to extend the pandemic pause on student-loan payments.

The Education Department did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, but a spokesperson told the New Yorker it is "continuing to work" with the White House to review student debt cancellation options, and a White House official told the publication that "these steps take time."

Braxton Brewington, press secretary for the Debt Collective, told Insider that although the public does not know the actual contents of the memo, the fact that it has existed for months but has not been released is a "political decision."

"This is in line with how this administration has been moving politically along with student debt cancellation, which is dragging their feet in ways that do seem intentional," Brewington said. "I think it's fair to say they've had the memos since April, and that the White House saw them and made a political decision to not release it to the public or to not act on it."

-Jen Psaki (@PressSec) February 4, 2021

Pressure on Biden to release the memo has been ramping up

Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar led a group of her Democratic colleagues in calling on Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to release the memo by October 22. The department missed the deadline. Although a spokesperson told Insider they plan to respond, Omar told Insider borrower cannot afford to wait.

"Millions of borrowers across the country are desperately asking for student debt relief," Omar said. "We know the President can do it with the stroke of a pen."

Cardona continues to say that conversations are still ongoing regarding the legality of broad student debt cancellation, most recently on October 26.

"It's a priority for me and for President Biden to make sure that part of the conversation is examining loan forgiveness," Cardona said at The Atlantic's Education Summit on Tuesday. "And those conversations are continuing."

Brewington said that Biden might be waiting to cancel student debt broadly before the midterm elections next year to help Democrats win, but Biden still knows the results of the memo, and "economically and morally, people need relief now."

"The right time to do this was Inauguration Day," Brewington said. "This is incredibly urgent. And even more urgent since payments are slated to be turned on in February, which will be a disaster and will devastate people who are already in economically precarious places right now due to COVID-19."