(TheLastPatriotNews.com) – To the cheers of fiscal conservatives across the United States, a majority in the US Senate voted to block President Joe Biden’s plan for student debt relief, which would direct billions of dollars from student loans to the taxpayers.
Biden’s student loan relief initiative, adopted by the US Education Department last year, has been tied down in the US Supreme Court.
It provides for forgiving borrowers $10,000, or up to $20,000 for some recipients, in government loans.
On Thursday, a majority of 51 US senators – including all 48 GOP senators present, two Democrats and one Independent, approved a Congressional Review Act resolution to block Biden’s plan.
The Senate resolution was introduced by Republican US Senator of Louisiana, Bill Cassidy.
The GOP initiative against Biden’s plan was supported by Democrat US Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana.
Independent Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema, a former official Democrat who caucuses with the Democratic Party, also backed the Republicans, The Daily Caller reports.
“We preserved the ability for folks who don’t have the income, who’ve lost their job, who took a low-paying job, to still be able to get relief for their student loans,” Cassidy announced in a video before the vote.
“What this repeals is the student loan pause, but also this kind of, it doesn’t matter who you are or whether you’re in need, those folks who are getting their student loans transferred to the backs of American taxpayers. It’s not forgiven, it’s transferred,” the GOP senator elaborated.
In May, the US House of Representatives passed a companion bill with 218 votes in favor and 203 against.
President Joe Biden has made it clear he would veto the bill.
As per the Congressional Review Act, Congress can adopt resolutions of disapproval that block the president’s executive orders. However, the resolutions can be vetoed by the president.
In August 2022, Biden announced his Education Department would forgive student loan debt of up to $10,000 (up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients) for people earning below $125,000 annually or families making below $250,000 annually.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates the plan would cost the federal budget $400 billion.
