U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) joined 18 of his Republican colleagues on Tuesday in introducing a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval.
The CRA aims to end President Joe Biden’s latest end-around to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling this summer striking down the administration’s original student loan bailout.
Biden’s income-driven repayment (IDR) rule, billed as the Saving on a Valuable Education repayment (SAVE) plan, is estimated to cost taxpayers nearly half a trillion dollars over the 10-year-budget window, according to the Penn Wharton Budget Model.
Biden announced the final rule on June 30, following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down the administration’s unconstitutional student debt forgiveness program that attempted to transfer hundreds of billions of dollars in student loan debt onto the taxpayers’ tab.
Johnson called Biden’s latest scheme “grossly unfair to families who did not send their kids to college and to those who paid off their student debt.”
“I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join us in halting this unfair policy,” the senator said.
The IDR rule:
- Reduces monthly payments from 10 percent to 5 percent of an undergraduate borrowers’ discretionary income.
- Raises the assumed amount of expenses to 225 percent of the Federal Poverty Line from 150 percent, increasing the likelihood that a borrower would have an expected loan payment of zero. An individual would need an income above $32,805 before being expected to pay anything.
- Stops charging unpaid monthly interest. Currently, if a monthly payment does not fully cover accrued interest, half of the remaining interest accrual is added to the balance of the loan.
- Reduces the maximum time period necessary for loan forgiveness from 20 years to 10 years for borrowers with loan balances of $12,000 or less.
- Lacks any guardrails to prevent households making over $250,000 a year from collecting taxpayer-funded assistance if they file taxes separately.
Undeterred by the Supreme Court ruling, the Biden administration defiantly rolled out its new bailout.
Biden’s Department of Education has touted the Saving on a Valuable Education repayment plan as the “most affordable repayment plan ever,” saving borrowers thousands of dollars a year.
But it comes at a cost.
Critics say the debt relief program is inherently unfair.
“Once again, Biden’s newest student loan scheme only shifts the burden from those who chose to take out loans to those who decided not to go to college, paid their way, or already responsibly paid off their loans,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), said in a statement.
A companion resolution has been introduced in the House.
The resolution needs only a simple majority to pass in both houses of congress, but even if a few Democrats go along in the Senate, Biden would surely veto the attempt at dismantling his latest big government spending initiative.
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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
What part of the US Constitution gives Joe the OK to do this ?