Ranking Member Cassidy on Senate Vote to Overturn Biden’s Unfair Student Loan Schemes
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released a statement following the U.S. Senate passage of his Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to overturn President Biden’s student debt cancelation and the loan repayment pause, which is estimated to cost taxpayers nearly $600 billion. On March 27th, Cassidy introduced the CRA resolution with U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Joni Ernst (R-IA). The Senate passed the CRA by a bipartisan vote of 52 to 46. The resolution will now head to the President’s desk.
“The President’s student loan schemes do not ‘forgive’ debt, they just shift the burden from those who chose to take out loans onto those who never went to college or already fulfilled their commitment to pay off their loans,” said Dr. Cassidy. “Our bipartisan resolution prevents average Americans, the 87 percent of whom currently have no student loans, from being forced to foot the bill of these unfair and irresponsible policies.”
The CRA would 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.
This week, Cassidy and U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) published an op-ed on Fox News blasting President Biden’s student loan schemes. Additionally, Cassidy spoke on the Senate floor about his CRA resolution that overturns Biden’s student debt transfer scheme and the loan repayment pause.
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), Katie Britt (R-AL), Ted Budd (R-NC), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Susan Collins (R-ME), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Ted Cruz (R-TX), 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), Rand Paul (R-KY), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), James Risch (R-ID), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Rick Scott (R-FL), Tim Scott (R-SC), Dan Sullivan (R-AL), John Thune (R-SD), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), J.D. Vance (R-OH), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and Todd Young (R-IN) in cosponsoring the CRA resolution.
U.S. Representative Bob Good (R-VA-5) introduced the companion CRA resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives. On May 24th, the resolution passed the House by a vote of 218 to 203.
Background
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.
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.
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