WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court could decide as early as this summer whether to back President Joe Biden’s $400 billion student loan forgiveness plan.
Louisiana U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy doesn’t want to wait that long.
Last week, Cassidy filed a resolution to repeal Biden’s plan to cancel debt for an estimated 43 million borrowers, calling the move “incredibly irresponsible.” He did so after the Government Accountability Office ruled on March 17 that Congress does, in fact, have say over debt forgiveness.
The Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee requested the ruling; Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, is the committee’s leading Republican member.
“Americans who did not go to college or sacrificed to pay off their loans should not have to foot the bill for those with student loan debt,” Cassidy said on Twitter.
But Cassidy’s push could be stamped out by Senate Democrats, who hold a majority in that chamber. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer promised Monday to defeat the resolution.
“Republicans are showing us just how callous and uncaring they can be to families trying to make ends meet,” Schumer said, also on Twitter. “We will continue to fight this cruel Republican attempt to end student debt relief with everything we have.”
At issue is a plan Biden unveiled last year to forgive up to $20,000 in loans per borrower for those with incomes under $125,000 per year. The relief was needed, Biden said, because the costs of a college education have nearly tripled since 1980.
The Federal Pell Grant Program, which is designed to help low-income students afford college, now only covers a third of those costs on average, or up to $6,895 this year. That leaves many students with no choice but to borrow.
College graduates enter the workforce carrying $25,000 in debt on average, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
About 26 million borrowers sought the relief when applications for the program opened last fall, and about 16 million were approved. But a wave of lawsuits challenging Biden’s authority stymied the effort, prompting the Supreme Court to weigh in. The conservative-leaning court heard arguments on the matter Feb. 28 and is expected to settle it by June.
Cassidy’s push to kill the plan before then relies on the GAO’s ruling that debt cancellation is subject to the Congressional Review Act.
That act was established in 1996 to give Congress the ability to overturn rules and regulations rendered by federal agencies and the president. It was used 16 times to repeal rules promulgated by the Obama administration and three times to negate rules by the Trump administration.
Biden has balked at the GAO’s stance, saying he can forgive debt despite Congress because of a separate 2003 law.
Both the House and Senate would need to approve Cassidy’s resolution.
Republicans hold a 222 to 213 majority in the House and could reach the 218 votes necessary for passage. Democrats hold a slimmer majority in the Senate. If two Democratic senators flip, then Cassidy’s resolution would pass. Even if that happened, Biden would have to sign the CRA, which seems unlikely.
Schumer said Monday it won’t get that far.
Cassidy isn’t the only Republican challenging Biden’s plan; at least a dozen bills have been filed by other Republicans to negate or mitigate it.
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