- Education Sec. Miguel Cardona said he's "been working nonstop" on broad student-loan forgiveness.
- He declined to comment to Insider on potential income caps with that relief.
- Reports said Biden is considering $10,000 in relief for those making under $150,000 a year.
President Joe Biden is getting closer to making a decision on broad student-loan forgiveness, and his Education Department affirmed they're ready to implement it whenever it's announced.
"We are prepared, we're ready to roll up our sleeves… we've been working nonstop," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told Politico during a Thursday press gaggle.
"We're ready to move forward on these policies," he added. "But we're also looking for ways to improve the policies that were poorly implemented, or that weren't really done well so that we can take advantage of helping students and things that we can control today. So we're really revamping the higher education practices to keep students at the center."
Recent reports have suggested Biden is considering $10,000 in student-loan forgiveness for federal borrowers making under $150,000 a year. This amount is in line with what he pledged on the campaign trail, and while many Democratic lawmakers wanted him to go bigger on relief, he said $50,000 in debt cancellation is off the table.
Cardona declined to comment to Insider on details surrounding what an income cap would look like, but Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal told Insider the department is "looking at a variety of options."
"There are a lot of aspects involved, but our focus today is on the announcement that the Vice President made which is the single biggest action in department history to deliver loan relief to students," Kvaal added, referring to the department's announcement it would be wiping out all remaining student debt for borrowers defrauded by now-defunct Corinthian Colleges.
Insider previously reported that making student-loan forgiveness subject to income caps would take time to implement and likely be an administrative burden. Mike Pierce, executive director of nonprofit Student Borrower Protection Center, told Insider that an income cap is "not making the policy more progressive because of how hard it's going to be for folks to demonstrate that they have a low enough income to benefit."
Still, Biden has yet to announce a final policy, and the only thing that is certain is that borrowers will know of any relief before student-loan payments are set to resume on September 1. And while Republican lawmakers do not want to see any relief at all, using the argument it will hurt the economy, Democrats want to ensure Biden uses this opportunity to go big.
"In order to reduce the racial wealth gap and advance a just and equitable economic recovery for all, we must alleviate the burden of student debt," Rep. Joyce Beatty, chair of the Black Congressional Caucus, previously said. "Nothing is off the table, except inaction."