President Biden doesn’t want to do it. But political reality has compelled him to make the biggest move so far to relieve student borrowers of onerous debt.

After months of deliberation, Biden has signed an executive order that will forgive up to $10,000 of student debt for borrowers earning less than $125,000 per year. Those with federal Pell grants, which go to those with exceptional financial need, will receive up to $20,000 in forgiveness if they make less than $125,000.

As a presidential candidate in 2020, Biden supported limited debt relief, in contrast with other Democrats who wanted to write off much or all of the $1.6 trillion in student debt Americans hold. Biden also opposed debt relief by executive order, saying Congress should do it by passing a law that leaves no doubt about the legality of the move.

The votes aren’t there for Congress to pass a debt-relief law, and Democrats need every advantage they can get heading into this year’s midterm elections. So Biden is holding his nose while signing a debt-relief executive order likely to face legal challenges. Biden has also extended a moratorium on student-debt repayment for the eighth time since March 2020, when Congress first enacted a repayment pause as part of the COVID-relief CARES Act. That pause now extends to Dec. 31.

The White House undoubtedly conducted detailed analysis to figure out how to provide some debt forgiveness, which is popular among Democrats, while triggering the least blowback from nanny-state critics. The $10,000 limit may be the optimal move. Polling shows 55% of Americans favor $10,000 in student debt relief. Support declines as the dollar amount gets larger, with only 41% supporting the elimination of all student debt, which is what uber-liberal Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont wants to do. Not surprisingly, support for debt relief is much higher among people who actually hold student debt.

Legitimate fairness questions

Any debt relief at all, however, is a questionable use of taxpayer dollars. Forgiving $10,000 of debt will wipe out all money owed for about 12 million borrowers and reduce the balance for about 30 million others. But it will cost the government about $300 billion in foregone revenue, according to the Penn Wharton Budget Model. That will add to budget deficits and more or less zero out the $275 billion in deficit reduction included in the so-called Inflation Reduction Act that President Biden signed less than two weeks ago.