Joe Biden could wipe out $50,000 of student debt without Congress. Here are 3 other areas he can help the struggling US economy even with a GOP-controlled Senate.

Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren unveiled a proposal for the next president to cancel up to $50,000 in student loan debt.

"The President of the United States has the power to broadly cancel student loan debt, help close the racial wealth gap, and give a big boost to families and our economy," Warren said in a statement in September. "It's time to use this existing authority and permanently improve the lives of tens of millions of Americans."

Schumer indicated it could form part of Biden's early agenda in a recent interview. During the Democratic primary earlier this year, Warren said she could use executive authority to begin canceling student debt if she won the presidency.

The Massachussetts senator cited an analysis from Harvard University researchers which found the president could direct the Education secretary to cancel student debt on "a broad or categorical basis."

Biden has proposed forgiving $10,000 in student debt for borrowers as part of a coronavirus relief package. Nearly 42 million Americans owe debt totaling $1.7 trillion.

Biden can increase the hourly pay for federal contractors

The President-elect supports a $15 minimum wage nationwide, though he hasn't unveiled a timeline to achieve it. House Democrats passed a plan last year to gradually reach that level by 2025.

Congress hasn't bumped the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour since 2009. It's the longest the US has gone without an increase in hourly pay for workers.

Biden campaigned to partially roll back Trump's 2017 tax law and increase the tax rate on corporations to 28%. But Republicans are not likely to support the move and it may be difficult to achieve if Democrats don't control the Senate.

He could step up corporate taxation by adjusting several regulations with the Treasury Department.

Trump's tax law reduced the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, the biggest change to the tax code in three decades.

The Trump administration cut the tax liability for multinationals through a combination of new levies known as Global Intangible Low Taxed Income (GILTI) and the Base Erosion and Anti Abuse Tax. Biden can increase these.

Congress hasn't spent all the relief funds from the CARES Act passed in March. Biden could repurpose some of the unspent money from the Paycheck Protection Program.

The small business relief program expired in August with $130 billion left over.

Monthslong talks between Republicans and Democrats have not produced a new stimulus package despite economists urging lawmakers to pass one and prop up the economy.