Two Dems Jump Ship on Biden Student Loan Cancellation Plans 

ShutterstockProfessional / shutterstock.com
ShutterstockProfessional / shutterstock.com

As if Democrats didn’t have enough to worry about with wildcards Joe Manchin (D-W. V) and Krysten Sinema (D-AZ) foiling the liberal agenda, two more have broken ranks to thwart Joe Biden’s student-loan forgiveness plans. 

On May 24, 2023, with the support of Democratic Representatives Jared Golden (D-ME) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA), House Republicans passed a resolution overturning President Joe Biden’s student loan cancellation plan. 

Congressman Jared Golden stated, “This decision by the president is out of touch with what the majority of the American people want from the White House, which is leadership to address the most immediate challenges the country is facing. The president should be taking action to reduce inflationary pressures; with this move, he potentially makes them worse. It is out of step with the needs and values of working-class Americans, and I do not support the president’s decision.”  

Ouch. 

The Republican challenge to student loan forgiveness relies on the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to undo recently enacted executive branch regulations. Biden has predictably promised to veto the resolution as soon as it crosses his desk. 

The battle, raging for years, leaves Americans sharply divided. According to some at the Office of Management and Budget, the cancellation plan is backed by “decades-old authority granted by Congress” to protect borrowers from the impact of national emergencies. 

Republicans believe that Biden overstepped his authority and illegally sidestepped Congress to try to pass his plan. Further, Republicans point out that it unfairly places the burden of the loan on the backs of taxpayers who didn’t go to college or who paid their debt. And at a cost of between $300 and $980 billion dollars over the next decade and the current dent standing at just under $32 trillion, it’s an economic nightmare. 

If the Republican resolution is passed, it would block Biden’s student loan forgiveness actions and limit the Education Department’s ability for future loan cancellations. It would reverse the latest student loan repayment pause and payment extensions passed in the early days of the pandemic. 

Over 260 organizations have united to urge Biden to veto the resolution, claiming that passing it would force millions into “abrupt and unplanned repayment” with “devastating effects.” 

Or, as responsible Americans would say, force them to pay their bills. Biden has extended student loan repayment six times already, but as of June 30, 2023, the party is over. 

An Associated Press poll found that only about 43 percent of respondents approve of how Biden is handling student debt. Of those 43% who approve, 53% were under age 30 and, presumably, set to benefit from the cancellation plan. 

The entire plan rests in the hands of the Supreme Court of the United States, and so far, it’s been a roller coaster ride with no predictable outcome. In April, the Supreme Court heard Sweet v. Cardona, a multi-year class action lawsuit surrounding Borrower Defense to Repayment applications. The Borrower Defense program could cancel federal student debt if a school made false promises or misrepresented its institution.  

The court’s ruling favored the plaintiffs and allowed almost 300,000 borrowers to receive $6 billion in student loan forgiveness if they attended certain colleges. This victory was outside of the current sweeping legal battle over student loan forgiveness, which is still ongoing. At the heart of the bigger conflict are questions surrounding the constitutional right of a sitting president to sidestep Congress and spend tax dollars by executive order.  

Will Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Jared Golden be the new Manchin and Sinema, balancing radical political ideology with reality and common sense? Republicans can only hope.