KEY DEPARTURE: The White House liaison to Black voters, Trey Baker, has left the Biden administration to take a job at the Barnes & Thornburg law firm's D.C. office.
Baker had been at the White House since the start of the Biden administration in 2021, after working on President Biden's 2020 campaign.
The Hill's Alex Gangitano has more.
Baker's departure comes as Republicans have continued to block Senate passage of voting rights legislation that was part of Biden's campaign platform.
In an interview with The Root earlier this year, the Mississippi native reflected on the Biden administration's commitment to addressing issues that affect Black people.
"Folks will sit back and be able to say I was a part of this administration that did for the Black community the things we said we were gonna do and the things that we need to make our community better," he said.
COMING UP: The White House is expected to unveil a plan on Wednesday to address student debt, but the details remain murky even for some in the administration.
Ideas that have been floated range from canceling $10,000 for people below a certain income level to a broader cancellation that would include more people.
Biden hasn't taken questions from reporters while he's been on vacation this week, and there has been no White House press briefing to provide clarity.
During an NBC News interview Sunday, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona would only say that a decision would be made "within the next week or so."
The clock is ticking, as loan payments are scheduled to restart Aug. 31, more than two years after they were paused in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Since taking office, Biden has faced intense pressure from advocates to follow through on a campaign promise to address student debt.
But he walks a fine line, potentially alienating voters who don't have debt and possibly further driving up inflation.
The team at the Penn Wharton Budget Model has crunched the numbers and estimates that a plan forgiving federal college student loan debt would cost between $300 billion and $980 billion over 10 years, depending on the final details.
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