Washington(CNN) President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program is facing a new threat from Senate Republicans even before the US Supreme Court rules on whether it can go into effect.
Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Joni Ernst of Iowa and John Cornyn of Texas, along with 36 other GOP senators, introduced a resolution Monday to waive Biden’s debt relief program, which promised up to $20,000 in debt relief for qualified borrowers.
The measure would also end the pandemic-related freeze on federal student loan payments, which has been in place since March 2020 and is set to expire this summer.
Biden is likely to veto the resolution if it passes the Senate and House. But the votes will force members of his own party, not all of whom support the student loan forgiveness program, to take a public stance.
The program is currently blocked. The Supreme Court is expected to issue its decision in late June or early July.
“President Biden’s student loan plan doesn’t ‘forgive’ debt, it just shifts the burden from willing borrowers to those who haven’t gone to college, or made sacrifices to pay off their loans,” Cassidy said in a statement last week.
Republican senators introduced their resolution using the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to withdraw regulations from the executive branch without having to clear the 60-vote threshold in the Senate required for majority legislation.
It was unclear whether the Congressional Review Act would apply to Biden’s student loan forgiveness program until the Government Accountability Office made a determination on the matter earlier this month.
Biden issued his first veto last week on a retirement investment resolution, which is also subject to the Congressional Review Act.
While many key Democratic lawmakers are urging Biden to cancel some federal student loans, not all party members are supportive.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat from Nevada who won a reelection contest last year, has previously been critical of Biden’s pardon plan.
“I will review the full text of the CRA when it is released, but as I have said before, I do not agree with President Biden’s executive action on student loans because it does not address the root problems that make college will not be paid,” he said in a statement sent to CNN last week.
His statement was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Democratic Sen. West Virginia’s Joe Manchin called Biden’s student loan forgiveness program “excessive.” His office did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
Biden’s one-time student loan forgiveness program is estimated to cost $400 billion over time.
Individual borrowers earning less than $125,000 in 2020 or 2021 and married couples or heads of households earning less than $250,000 a year may see up to $10,000 of their federal student loan debt forgiven.
If an eligible borrower also receives a federal Pell grant while enrolled in college, the individual is eligible for up to $20,000 in loan forgiveness. Pell grants are awarded to students from very low-income families who are more likely to have difficulty repaying their student loans.
While debt relief will help borrowers with student loans now, the program won’t change the cost of college in the future — and some critics argue it could even lead to higher tuition. A separate proposal from Biden, expected to take effect later this year, would create a new income-driven payment plan that could lower monthly payments for current and future borrowers. borrowers.
Legal challengers to the student loan forgiveness program argue that the Biden administration is abusing its power and using the Covid-19 pandemic as an excuse to fulfill the president’s campaign promise to cancel student debt. .
The White House said it received 26 million applications before a lower court in Texas placed a national block on the program in November, and that 16 million of those applications were approved for relief. — even if the debt has not been canceled. It is possible that the government will move quickly to forgive the debts if it gets the green light from the Supreme Court.
If the justices strike down Biden’s student loan forgiveness program, it may be possible for the administration to make some policy changes and try again — though that process could take months.
This story has been updated with additional information.
