Cole, Johnson offer bill to prohibit congressmen from canceling own student loan debt

U.S. Reps. Tom Cole (R-OK) and Dusty Johnson (R-SD) on Feb. 9 introduced a bill that would prohibit members of Congress from receiving a financial benefit from certain student loan cancellation programs.

“Members of Congress collecting a six-figure salary should surely be required to repay the money they borrowed from the U.S. Treasury,” Rep. Cole said about student loans.

The congressman sponsored the Can’t Cancel Your Own Debt Act of 2022, H.R. 6668, with original cosponsor Rep. Johnson and 13 other GOP original cosponsors to disqualify congressional members from participating in federal programs enacted during their tenure to cancel student loans, whether established by executive order, agency action or an act of Congress.

“Some members calling for student loans to be canceled have a combined loan debt of $1.8 million,” Rep. Johnson said. “That’s a conflict of interest. I signed onto the Can’t Cancel Your Own Debt Act to prevent Congress from implementing bills that let members off the hook for personal debts.”

Additionally, H.R. 6668 would bar members of Congress from any service- or employment-based student loan cancellation for time served as a member of Congress, according to the bill summary provided by the lawmakers.

“The American people expect their representatives to act impartially and in the best interests of their constituents — not their own financial interest,” said Rep. Cole. “It is simply unconscionable that a member of Congress making an annual salary of $174,000, paid for by the American taxpayer, could then personally benefit by voting to cancel the repayment of their federal student loans.”

Among the members who joined Rep. Cole and Rep. Johnson in introducing H.R. 6668 were U.S. Reps. Steve Womack (R-AR), Michael Burgess (R-TX), Ashley Hinson (R-IA), Mike Bost (R-IL), Stephanie Bice (R-OK), and Ken Calvert (R-CA).

“Members should not be voting for or advocating for legislation or executive orders that put their pocketbooks over policy,” added Rep. Cole. “Indeed, it is corrupt, and I am introducing this legislation because a number of my congressional colleagues seem to have forgotten that.”