U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) on Monday led 40 of his Republican colleagues, including U.S. Sens. Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Joni Ernst (R-IA), in offering a joint resolution disapproving of President Joe Biden’s plan to cancel federal student loans.
“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 Sen. Cassidy. “It is extremely unfair to punish these Americans, forcing them to pay the bill for these irresponsible and unfair student loan schemes.”
Senate Joint Resolution 22 would provide for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5 of the U.S. Code to the rule submitted by the U.S. Department of Education related to “Waivers and Modifications of Federal Student Loans,” according to the text of the resolution.
Sen. Cassidy sponsored the resolution with 40 GOP original cosponsors, including Sen. Romney, Sen. Ernst, and U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Steve Daines (R-MT), Deb Fischer (R-NE), John Hoeven (R-ND), Tim Scott (R-SC), John Thune (R-SD), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and Todd Young (R-IN).
“It makes no sense for the Biden administration to cancel hundreds of billions of dollars in student loan debt,” said Sen. Romney. “This decision would not only be unfair to those who already repaid their loans or decided to pursue alternative education paths, but it would be wildly inflationary at a time of already historic inflation.”
Democrats and Republicans, he added, have warned Biden against taking this step, which could increase the $30 trillion national debt. “And while the president’s legal authority in forgiving this debt is dubious at best, our resolution would overturn these actions,” Sen. Romney said.
The Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution also would end the pause on student loan payments, which the senators say costs taxpayers $5 billion a month. The pause has been extended six times under the Biden administration, they said, and could cost Americans a total of $195 billion by the time the most recent extension is set to expire in August.
“President Biden’s attempt to transfer nearly half a trillion dollars in debt to hard-working Americans who chose to avoid or pay off student loans is unfair and unaffordable,” said Sen. Ernst. “That’s why I’m fighting to stop Biden’s student loan socialism and protect Iowa taxpayers from being forced to foot the bill.”
The National Taxpayers Union and the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget support the resolution.