Biden Slams GOP Outrage over Illegal Student-Loan Wipeout: ‘Wrong and Hypocritical’
In a Monday speech announcing the official launch of the federal student loan cancellation application portal, President Biden slammed the GOP for its resistance to the program, which Republicans have argued is illegal and carries a massive price tag for the government.
Republican elected officials, particularly governors, are “doing everything they can to deny” this federal aid to eliminate some student debt, he claimed. “Their outrage is wrong and hypocritical…I will never apologize for helping middle class Americans.”
Addressing Republican concerns that the student loan wipeout would dramatically expand the national debt, as well as exacerbate already soaring inflation, Biden alleged that the GOP enacted a “two-trillion dollar tax cut that racked up the deficit” backed by the Trump administration in 2017. He also said it’s wrong for Republicans to oppose this expenditure when many “had hundreds of thousands of dollars in pandemic relief funds.” Under “my watch,” the deficit has fallen, he said.
“No matter what Republicans say, we are able to afford it,” he said of the program. Last month, the congressional budget office calculated that it would cost about $400 billion over a decade. Under the plan, individuals making less than $125,000 and households making under $250,000 a year would have $10,000 in debt erased. It also relieves $20,000 for Pell grant recipients, applying to potentially 60 percent of borrowers. The CBO score was worse even than the $300 billion cost projected by the University of Pennsylvania Wharton Budget Model.
Biden on Monday warned that the program might experience fraud and instructed Americans to report any such incidents online. Asked by a reporter whether legal challenges by Republican-controlled states could suspend the implementation of the order, he acknowledged that “litigation is underway” but that “our legal judgement is that it won’t stop it.”
Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, and South Carolina jointly sued over the bailout last month, asking a federal district court to permanently block its enforcement.
“In addition to being economically unwise and downright unfair, the Biden Administration’s Mass Debt Cancellation is yet another example in a long line of unlawful regulatory actions,” the plaintiffs argued in their filing. The Pacific Legal Foundation also filed a lawsuit against the administration, alleging that the program will impose new tax liability on borrowers in at least six states.
Thousands of people across the country have reportedly written to the White House, giving emotional petitions and testimonies about the student debt they’ve been saddled with throughout their lives, Biden said. “A lot of seniors still carry burden of student debt,” he mentioned.
“Folks, apply for student loan debt relief today. No forms. No special log-in. It’s available in English and Spanish – and on desktop and mobile. And it’ll take you less than five minutes,” Biden tweeted Monday.
