He had no right to cancel student debt

That's the purview of the Congress. When The Squad first demanded it, that's what the White House told them. But they kept pushing, and finally Joe's advisors realized it would be a way to energize the youth vote. After all, what's better than "free money"?

It'll be struck down by the big, bad SCOTUS. They knew it at the time. But the promise served its purpose. They fell for it and Dems got elected.