- A GOP-led effort to overturn President Joe Biden’s massive student loan forgiveness plan passed the Senate on Thursday.
- The White House said it would veto the measure.
On June 1, 2023, the Senate voted to repeal President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program. Biden — pictured here with U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona in October — is expected to veto the bill.
Getty Images | Bloomberg
A GOP-led effort to overturn President Joe Biden’s massive student loan forgiveness plan passed the Senate on Thursday. White House He said he would veto the measure.
Biden’s plan to cancel student loans of up to $20,000 for tens of thousands of Americans is already on hold as the Supreme Court debates its validity.
The measure, which passed the House on party lines last week, would also repeal the moratorium on student loan payments. The moratorium on bills has been in force for more than three years. Borrowers may have to pay back the interest they saved throughout the moratorium.
The legislation passed by a 52-46 vote, with two Democrats and one independent senator voting with Republicans.
As for the expected veto, experts say borrowers need not worry.
“It’s not going anywhere,” said higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz. “Basically it’s a form of political posturing to appeal to their base.”
More from Personal Finance:
A student loan repayment freeze made forgiveness easier for public employees
Experts say SCOTUS will rule against student loan forgiveness
What’s at stake as SCOTUS weighs student loan forgiveness
Sen. John Thune, R.S.D., agreed that the passing of the law was largely symbolic.
“Unfortunately, the president is guaranteed to veto this measure, and not enough Democrats in the House and Senate are willing to override his veto,” Thune said on the floor Thursday.
Sen. Joe Manchin, DW.V., said in a statement that he voted to defeat the president’s plan because it could not add another $400 billion to the nation’s national debt. That’s the expected cost of Biden’s plan.
Manchin said the policy “forces hard-working taxpayers to shoulder the cost of paying off their debt or not going to college.”
Several Democratic lawmakers issued statements condemning the law.
“The brutal effort by Republicans to block President Biden’s plans to provide relief to tens of thousands of Americans crushed by student loan debt is damaging to our economy and out of touch with the financial realities facing working families,” said Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass.
“If you kick a Republican in the heart, you’ll break your toe,” Markey added.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the measure “A slap in the face“For more than 40 million Americans.
“We need to help Americans with student debt, not make their problems worse,” Schumer said.
