By Casey Harper (The Center Square)
The U.S. Senate voted 52 to 46 on Thursday to overturn President Joe Biden’s executive order to cancel student loans.
Biden’s order would cancel up to $10,000 for eligible borrowers and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients. Biden ordered the debt forgiveness through the Department of Education last year, but is now being reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court after a legal challenge.
Congress’s joint resolution of censure passed Thursday, drawing Democratic support from Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana, as well as Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who now identifies as an independent. Two other Democrats, Senator Mark Warner of Virginia and Michael Bennet of Colorado, did not vote.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-LA., introduced the bill in the Senate that passed Thursday. He praised the legislation, saying “87% of Americans have not taken out or responsibly repaid student loans.”
Critics of Biden’s plan argue that it is unfair to those who worked to pay off their loans or never took them out in the first place. They also claim it taxes poorer Americans who couldn’t afford to go to college to subsidize the choices of other Americans, often wealthier people who now have more earning potential because of their degrees.
“These plans are unfair and irresponsible,” Cassidy added.
Related: House Republicans vote to overturn Biden’s student loan bail
The legislation passed under the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to overturn recently passed executive actions. However, Biden can veto this legislation.
The bill first passed in the House after being introduced by U.S. Representative Bob Good, R-Va. The US Congressional Budget Office estimated that the provision would cost taxpayers about $400 billion.
“President Biden’s student loan transfer plan shifts hundreds of billions of dollars in payments from student loan borrowers onto the backs of the American people,” Good told The Center Square. “I am proud to lead the fight against President Biden’s reckless, unilateral and unauthorized action, which would unfairly punish those who worked hard to pay off their loans or never took them out in the first place.”
That spending has become the center of much controversy as inflation rises and the federal debt that fuels it continues to rise.
Related: Biden admin sued for student loan bail
As before The Center Square reportedSenior Vice President and Senior Policy Director Marc Goldwein of the Commission for a Responsible Federal Budget testified before Congress in March about runaway federal spending and the national debt, which is on track to reach $32 trillion this year.
“Unfortunately, government policies have contributed to this inflation and cancellation could further exacerbate inflationary pressures if the Supreme Court allows it to proceed,” Goldwein testified before the House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development. “This, in turn, puts more pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates, distorting financial, housing and labor markets and threatening to push the economy into recession.”
Syndicated with permission from Center Square.
