WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans failed to gain enough votes Wednesday night to block the Biden administration’s novel rule on an income-driven repayment plan for federal student loans.
The resolution failed by a vote of 49-50. Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia was the lone Democrat to join Republicans in supporting the resolution. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina did not vote.
After the vote, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was glad the resolution was rejected.
“There are millions of students, poor people, working class people … who would benefit from what the president did,” Schumer said.
The resolution on the act on the review of the activities of the Congress was passed It was introduced by the top Republican on the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana.
There is no companion resolution in the House, where Republicans have a slim majority. The White House has already promised to veto the measure if it reaches the president’s desk.
“This legislation would mean higher payments for student loan borrowers and dramatically raise costs for graduates,” the White House said in a statement. “That is precisely the wrong direction.”
The Congressional Review Act, or CRA, allows Congress to overturn any regulatory rule issued by the White House. The CRA needs just 51 votes to pass, as opposed to the usual 60 votes required to defeat a filibuster.
On the Senate floor Wednesday, Cassidy argued that the novel income-driven repayment plan does not “forgive the debt.”
“It shifts the burden of $559 billion in federal student loan debt to the 87% of Americans who do not have student loans, who chose not to go to college, or who have already responsibly paid off their debt,” he said.
This is not the first time that Republican lawmakers have tried to block the Biden administration’s student debt relief policy.
In May, Republicans Introduced and Sent CRA to the White House which would have prevented the one-time cancellation of up to $20,000 of federal student debt for some eligible borrowers. The White House vetoed it, and the Supreme Court invalidated the policy a month later.
Before the Senate vote Wednesday, Schumer said the current CRA bill is “a gut punch to millions and millions of borrowers, the vast majority of whom are working class, middle class or poor.”
“Republicans don’t think twice about giving massive tax breaks to ultra-rich billionaires and big corporations, but when it comes to helping working families pay off student debt, suddenly it’s too much money, it’s going to increase the deficit, we can’t afford it,” Schumer said. “Give me a break.”
Department of Education exposed Savings on Value Education, or SAVE, plan, a few hours after The Supreme Court annulled the ruling in June The Biden administration has issued a lump sum of student debt relief that would forgive up to $10,000 in federal student debt for single people earning less than $125,000 a year or up to $250,000 for married couples.
Pell Grant borrowers could apply for an additional $10,000 in federal student loan forgiveness.
The novel income-driven repayment plan calculates payments based on a borrower’s income and family size and forgives balances after a set number of years. More than 5.5 million student loan borrowers have already signed up for the SAVE plan, according to data published by the Department of Education.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky called the novel IDR rule “socialist fever” during a Senate hearing on Wednesday.
“Any way you look at it, the president’s policy is a raw deal for working Americans who have made sacrifices to pay off their student loans or avoid debt altogether,” he said. “But since taxpayers are footing the bill, it also provides a strong incentive for schools to raise college costs even further.”
Federal student loan payments resumed last month after a nearly three-year hiatus caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Under the SAVE plan, borrowers with undergraduate loans will pay 5% of their discretionary income, rather than the 10% required under previous income repayment plans. And borrowers with both undergraduate and graduate loans will pay a weighted average of between 5% and 10% of their income.
