Washinton D.C. – U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) last week voted in favor of legislation disapproving of the Biden Administration’s unilateral mass student loan debt cancellation rule and the most recent extension to the pause on student loan repayments.
On August 24, 2022, the Biden Administration announced an extension to the pause on student loan repayments and interest accrual, as well as a mass student loan debt “forgiveness” plan. The plan directed Education Secretary Cardona to cancel $10,000 in student loans for borrowers with annual incomes of less than $125,000 ($250,000 if married) and to cancel $20,000 in student loans for Pell Grant recipients who meet the income thresholds. The Congressional Budget Office has projected that this plan would cost around $400 billion.
The Senate in a bipartisan 52-46 vote approved a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act to block the Biden Administration’s student loan debt plan. The disapproval resolution previously passed the U.S. House of Representatives in a bipartisan 218-203 vote and now heads to President Biden’s desk. He is expected to veto the measure. However, a ruling by the Supreme Court on the Biden Administration’s student loan debt cancellation plan is expected by the end of June.
“I proudly voted against President Biden’s unlawful, unfair, and regressive mass student loan debt transfer plan, which blatantly exceeds his statutory authority and piles more debt onto hardworking Americans who can least afford it,” said Senator Britt. “While this Administration continues to rely on radical left-wing executive actions to placate its base, families across our nation are struggling to make ends meet. This student loan debt debacle would further inflame the inflation crisis and incentivize the cost of higher education to continue rising. I will continue fighting to restore fiscal sanity in Washington.”
Senator Britt is an original cosponsor of the Senate version of the resolution of disapproval, S.J.Res.22. She is also an original cosponsor of the Stop Reckless Student Loan Actions Act, which would limit executive authority to unilaterally cancel federal student loan debt and suspend or defer student loan payments or interest accrual on such loans. Senator Britt joined Senator Marsha Blackburn’s (R-Tenn.) amicus brief to the Supreme Court supporting respondents in the dual Supreme Court cases challenging President Biden’s student loan debt plan, Biden v. Nebraska and Department of Education v. Brown.
