WASHINGTON--U.S. Senators Jim Risch and Mike Crapo (both R-Idaho) joined Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-Louisiana), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and 35 additional Republican colleagues to introduce a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to overturn President Biden’s student loan cancelation scheme, which would transfer up to $20,000 in student loan debt per borrower onto taxpayers, costing an estimated $400 billion. The CRA would also end the pause on student loan payments, which costs taxpayers $5 billion a month and has been extended six times under the Biden Administration, far beyond the original pandemic justification. The pause will have cost Americans a total of $195 billion by the time the most recent Biden extension is set to expire in August of 2023. On March 17th, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) announced that President Biden’s student loan policy is classified as a rule and is eligible to be overturned under the CRA.
“President Biden is planning to push even more debt on taxpayers in order to ‘forgive’ student debt. But, this isn’t forgiveness, it’s a transfer of debt from one group of Americans to all taxpayers, including Idahoans who did not go to college or who already paid off their student debt,” said Risch. “This isn’t right, and if the Supreme Court doesn’t stop this, Congress should.”
“Idahoans who went to work instead of attending college, or who already paid off their student loan debt, should not have to foot the bill for President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan,” said Crapo. “Placing the burden of our nation’s outstanding student loan debt on taxpayers is irresponsible, unaffordable and does nothing to address the underlying issue, which is the exorbitant cost of tuition.”
“President Biden is not forgiving debt, he is shifting the burden of student loans off of the borrowers who willingly took on their debt and placing it onto those who chose to not go to college or already fulfilled their commitment to pay off their loans,” said Dr. Cassidy. “It is extremely unfair to punish these Americans, forcing them to pay the bill for these irresponsible and unfair student loan schemes.”
“The Biden administration’s tuition bailout is bad public policy, and it's unfair to people who've paid their college debt off by working multiple jobs or consciously meeting their obligations,” said Senator Cornyn. “This would block President Biden’s political gambit from driving up inflation, incentivizing universities to raise tuition, and forcing hardworking Texans to pay off the debts of wealthy graduates.”
“President Biden’s attempt to transfer nearly half a trillion dollars in debt to hardworking Americans who chose to avoid or pay off student loans is unfair and unaffordable. That’s why I’m fighting to stop Biden’s student loan socialism and protect Iowa taxpayers from being forced to foot the bill,” said Senator Ernst.
Additional co-sponsors are Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyoming), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), John Boozman (R-Arkansas), Mike Braun (R-Indiana), Ted Budd (R-North Carolina), Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia), Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota), Steve Daines (R-Montana), Deb Fischer (R-Nebraska), Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Bill Hagerty (R-Tennessee), Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), John Hoeven (R-North Dakota), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi), Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin), John Kennedy (R-Louisiana), James Lankford (R-Oklahoma), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming), Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Eric Schmitt (R-Missouri), Rick Scott (R-Florida), Tim Scott (R-South Carolina), John Thune (R-South Dakota), Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama), Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) and Todd Young (R-Indiana).
U.S. Representative Bob Good (R-Virginia) introduced the companion CRA resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Background
Recently, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the cases Biden v. Nebraska and Department of Education v. Brown on whether the student loan cancelation program violates President Biden’s executive authority under the Constitution. The Supreme Court is expected to issue an opinion on the policy this summer.
On February 7th, Crapo and Risch joined 41 other senators in filing an amicus brief to the Supreme Court challenging the Biden Administration’s student loan cancelation program, which they say circumvents the authority of Congress.
