Senators move to discard Joe Biden’s Student Loan forgiveness plan ahead of Supreme Court verdict

YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — US President Joe Biden faces strong opposition from Republicans for his controversial student loan forgiveness program. While the Supreme Court is yet to decide if the Government can implement it, a group of Senators have decided to table a resolution to overturn the Biden Administration’s decision. 

According to a press release, Republican Senators Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Joni Ernst of Iowa, and John Cornyn of Texas are looking to rally support for their Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution. 

“President Biden’s student loan scheme does not ‘forgive’ debt, it just transfers the burden from those who willingly took out loans to those who never went to college, or sacrificed to pay their loans off,” 

Bill Cassidy said in a statement.

What is Joe Biden’s debt forgiveness program?

In August 2021, President Biden kickstarted a nationwide debate when he announced that he would cancel billions of dollars of the country’s outstanding federal student loan debt. 

Invoking the HEROES Act, Biden made good on his campaign promise and declared that his administration would forgive up to $10,000 in federal student debt for Americans making under $125,000 a year. Moreover, he announced that he would cancel up to $20,000 for students from lower-income families who are recipients of Pell grants. 

President Biden’s student debt forgiveness program could end up costing as much as $400 billion to the US Taxpayer. 

Republicans slammed Biden for the move. Many warned that the move would cause inflation. Others initiated legal actions against him. According to them, the plan to forgive student loans constituted an overreach of his powers.

Amid a series of lawsuits, some coming from State Governments, a US Federal court blocked the program last August. Unable to proceed with the loan cancelation, the Biden Administration moved to the Supreme Court to enforce its project. 

The US Supreme Court is expected to issue its ruling this summer, with a verdict unlikely to come before June or July.

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Can Republicans pull the breaks on Biden’s loan forgiveness program?

Several Republicans have called Biden’s move “reckless”. However, there have also been some from his Democratic party who have shown disagreement with it. 

Democrat Joe Manchin, who represents West Virginia in the US Senate, called the program “excessive” and declared his disagreement with it. Other teammates, including Sen. Cortez Masto from Nevada and former senator Tim Ryan from Ohio, also criticized the program. 

The vote in the US Senate and House of Representatives will force more Democrats to take a public stance on the issue. Those that have avoided the topic will have to declare either their opposition or support for it. Their decision will undoubtedly matter when they seek re-election. 

But even if the resolution passes through Congress, Joe Biden will most likely veto it. Signing it would essentially kill the program. Under the CRA rules, it will automatically prevent the program from coming into effect. Moreover, the Government cannot re-attempt to bring in such a law in the future unless Congress allows it. 

Nonetheless, even if Biden vetoes the resoulution, it will manage to keep the issue in the spotlight till the Supreme Court takes a call on it. 

“President Biden’s unfair attempt to transfer nearly half a trillion dollars in student debt to American taxpayers only helps the wealthy and hurts working families… We’re working to protect hardworking Americans and put a stop to the president’s reckless actions,” 

Senator Ernst said in a statement. 

With the US Presidential elections a little over a year away, Joe Biden will be hoping that the US court does not discard his program. Forgiving student loans can win him much-needed votes, which, to be fair, is probably why he is so keen on passing it.