Ranking Member Cassidy, Cornyn, Ernst, Colleagues Introduce CRA to Overturn Biden’s Reckless Student Loan Schemes
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, John Cornyn (R-TX), Joni Ernst (R-IA), and 36 Republican colleagues introduced 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 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.
“NTU applauds Rep. Good and Senator Cassidy for introducing this resolution and urges all members of Congress to sign on as a co-sponsor and support its immediate passage. This resolution will dissuade the executive branch from other expansions of its authority, prevent the transfer of billions in debt payments to all taxpayers, and prevent this authority from being spuriously activated in the future,” said Nicholas Johns, Policy and Government Affairs Manager of National Taxpayers Union.
"The Biden Administration's debt cancellation plan is a poor solution to a serious problem. Rather than addressing college costs and quality, the President's higher education proposals would lead to more borrowing, higher tuition, and worse overall outcomes. The $400 billion in debt cancellation would offer windfalls to higher earners while boosting inflation for Americans already struggling with high prices on everything from rent to groceries. The unilateral action will add to the national debt that is already on course to reach a record share of the economy and increase recession risk. We applaud Senator Cassidy and Representative Good's efforts to roll back this costly policy and encourage Congress and the President to work together on a responsible set of reforms to truly improve the cost and quality of our higher education system,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
“Debt does not simply disappear. There is no such thing as student loan debt “forgiveness” or “cancellation” - there is only shifting the burden of paying that debt to someone else. The Biden Administration’s debt-shifting scheme would benefit the wealthy elite while simultaneously punishing responsible Americans, driving up inflation, and failing to address the real problems in higher education. We commend Congressman Good and Senator Cassidy for introducing this measure allowing Congress to revoke the unlawful authority claimed by the Administration to redistribute student loan debt.” said Jessica Anderson, Executive Director of Heritage Action
Cassidy, Cornyn, and Ernst are joined by U.S. Senators John Barrasso (R-WY), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Boozman (R-AR), Mike Braun (R-IN), Ted Budd (R-NC), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Steve Daines (R-MT), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Josh Hawley (R-MO), John Hoeven (R-ND), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Ron Johnson (R-WI), John Kennedy (R-LA), James Lankford (R-OK), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), James Risch (R-ID), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Rick Scott (R-FL), Tim Scott (R-SC), John Thune (R-SD), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and Todd Young (R-IN).
U.S. Representative Bob Good (R-VA-5) introduced the companion CRA resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“President Biden’s so-called student loan forgiveness programs do not make the debt go away, but merely transfer the costs from student loan borrowers onto taxpayers to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars,” said Representative Good. “Congress should stop these unilateral actions, and I am proud to lead the fight in the House to hold President Biden accountable for his reckless, unfair, and unlawful student loan proposal. I hope all my colleagues will join me and support this effort.”
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, Cassidy joined U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and 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. He also joined U.S. Senator John Thune (R-SD) in introducing the Stop Reckless Student Loan Actions Act, which would end President Biden’s current student loan pause.
Additionally, Cassidy called out President Biden’s reckless income-driven repayment (IDR) rule, which would result in a majority of bachelor’s degree holders not having to repay their loans and will cost taxpayers an estimated $230 billion.
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