WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Bob Good (R-Va.) and Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.) announced that they are leading the Joint Resolution of Disapproval under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn President Biden’s first proposed unlawful student loan transfer scheme after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently ruled the action was eligible for Congressional action.
“President Biden’s so-called student loan forgiveness programs do not make the debt go away, but merely transfer the costs from student loan borrowers onto taxpayers to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars,” Congressman Good said. “Congress should stop these unilateral actions, and I am proud to lead the fight in the House to hold President Biden accountable for his reckless, unfair, and unlawful student loan proposal. I hope all my colleagues will join me and support this effort.”
“President Biden is not forgiving debt, he is shifting the burden of student loans off of the borrowers who willingly took on their debt and placing it onto those who chose to not go to college or already fulfilled their commitment to pay off their loans,” said Dr. Cassidy. “It is extremely unfair to punish these Americans, forcing them to pay the bill for these irresponsible and unfair student loan schemes.”
“The president’s unlawful, unilateral actions are destabilizing our postsecondary education system, harming students by enabling schools to continue increasing their prices, and costing hardworking taxpayers nearly $1 trillion, all to buy votes and advance a radical free college agenda. Rep. Good’s CRA resolution is the first step towards putting a stop to this madness and bringing some fiscal sanity back to Washington,” said Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC).
“NTU applauds Rep. Good and Senator Cassidy for introducing this resolution and urges all members of Congress to sign on as a co-sponsor and support its immediate passage. This resolution will dissuade the executive branch from other expansions of its authority, prevent the transfer of billions in debt payments to all taxpayers, and prevent this authority from being spuriously activated in the future,” said Nicholas Johns, Policy and Government Affairs Manager of National Taxpayers Union.
“The Biden Administration’s debt cancellation plan is a poor solution to a serious problem. Rather than addressing college costs and quality, the President’s higher education proposals would lead to more borrowing, higher tuition, and worse overall outcomes. The $400 billion in debt cancellation would offer windfalls to higher earners while boosting inflation for Americans already struggling with high prices on everything from rent to groceries. The unilateral action will add to the national debt that is already on course to reach a record share of the economy and increase recession risk. We applaud Senator Cassidy and Representative Good’s efforts to roll back this costly policy and encourage Congress and the President to work together on a responsible set of reforms to truly improve the cost and quality of our higher education system,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
“Debt does not simply disappear. There is no such thing as student loan debt ‘forgiveness’ or ‘cancellation’ – there is only shifting the burden of paying that debt to someone else. The Biden Administration’s debt-shifting scheme would benefit the wealthy elite while simultaneously punishing responsible Americans, driving up inflation, and failing to address the real problems in higher education. We commend Congressman Good for introducing this measure allowing Congress to revoke the unlawful authority claimed by the Administration to redistribute student loan debt,” said Jessica Anderson, Executive Director of Heritage Action.
The student loan transfer plan is just the latest in a series of costly moves by the Biden Administration which continue to drive up inflation. Rep. Good’s Joint Resolution would allow Congress to formally revoke the authority the Administration claimed it had to forgive loans.