President Joe Biden vetoed a measure that would overturn his plan to cancel large amounts of federal student loan debt that could affect tens of millions of borrowers.
“Congressional Republicans led an effort to pass a bill blocking my Administration’s plan to provide up to $20,000 in student debt relief to working and middle class Americans,” Biden said in a tweet on Wednesday. “I won’t back down on helping hardworking folks. That’s why I’m vetoing this bill.”
The GOP-led House passed in March a joint resolution of disapproval employing the Congressional Review Act, which allows lawmakers to overturn executive branch rules while doing away with the 60-vote threshold to overcome a filibuster in the Senate. By a 52-46 vote, with Sens. John Tester (D-MT), Joe Manchin (D-WV), and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) joining Republicans, the upper chamber passed the measure last week.
Rep. Bob Good (R-VA) first sponsored the resolution after the Government Accountability Office ruled the Education Department’s actions in this matter were eligible for congressional action and the Congressional Budget Office estimated that cancelling outstanding student loans from the federal government would cost $400 billion.
“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,” Good said in a statement at the time. “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.”
While Biden’s opponents in Congress do not appear to have the numbers to override a veto, the student loan plan still has a major hurdle to clear in court. Legal experts believe the conservative-majority Supreme Court will reject the program in a ruling that is expected this summer.
When Biden announced the debt relief plan in August before the midterm elections, he described it as being part of a wider effort to provide assistance to working families struggling with “strains” associated with the COVID pandemic, a strategy that also included extending a pause on federal student loan payments. That moratorium is slated to expire this year.
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