The president signed an executive order last month dictating that $10,000 of debt be forgiven for those who took out student loans and are still laying them off. $20,00 if you took out a Pell Grant.
Republicans are questioning the legality and merits of Biden’s order.
“A student loan debt transfer does not cancel or forgive anything,” said Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN). “These debts will still be paid. It’s not like they go away. (Biden) has simply shifted the costs of repayment onto everyone, including the 65-percent of workers who chose not to get a college degree.”
Braun said on the Senate floor that the onus should be on pushing colleges to provide better value for the education they provide. He used Purdue University as an example with former university president Mitch Daniels freezing tuition for ten straight years without an increase.
Above all, however, Braun believes the president can’t unilaterally get rid of student loan debt.
“President Biden’s actions are illegal in the first place,” he said. “The president doesn’t have the authority to cancel all this debt.”
Braun is a co-signer of the Debt Cancellation Accountability Act, authored by Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), which would mandate that the Dept. of Education get expressed permission from Congress to waive, reduce, or discharge any federal student loans.
