was there mass student debt forgiveness/delay before?
A bit of history of the student debt program. With what looks like some attempts under Newt's Congress to roll it back, bur for sure has had bipartisan support for decades.
Then in 2010, is when the Feds completely screwed it up by taking full control of it.
https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/topics/higher-education-funding-and-financial-aid/federal-student-aid/federal-student-loans/federal-student-loan-history/#:~:text=The%20federal%20government%20began%20guaranteeing,Education%20Loan%20(FFEL)%20program.