The White House’s action is completely at odds with its talk of deficit reduction, MacGuineas said. By forgiving billions in student loans, the nation’s deficit will increase twice as much – it reached $2.8 trillion in the fiscal year 2021, the second-highest in history – undoing the $300 billion Democratic plans for deficit reduction. She added that the president undid a year’s worth of work on the fiscal front with a pen stroke.
