Republicans call Biden forgiving another $1.2 billion in student loans a 'slap in the face' and 'screw you' to American taxpayers and those who know the 'true' cost of college

• Education Department will identify eligible borrowers and cancel debt under the SAVE plan on a regular basis going forward
• The administration has canceled nearly $138 billion in student loan debt in total for almost 3.9 million borrowers to date since Biden took office
• Republicans have blasted the effort accusing the administration of a bailout on the backs of other taxpayers

Republicans are pushing back on Joe Biden’s effort to cancel student loan debt after the White House announced it has wiped out a grand total of nearly $138 billion since he took office.

The Biden administration’s aggressive effort to chip away at the more than $1.7 trillion in Americans’ student loan debt comes despite the Supreme Court blocking President Biden’s initial $400 billion plan.

On Wednesday, the White House announced more than 150,000 borrowers are being informed their debt totaling $1.2 billion is being forgiven in the first round of debt cancelation under the administration’s new SAVE program.

GOP lawmakers claim the administration’s ongoing effort is putting a massive burden on taxpayers, is unfair to the millions of Americans who didn’t go to college and is an overreach of Biden’s authority.

‘UPDATE: Biden will send a second email to taxpayers and others who didn’t take out loans or worked hard to pay them back: “Screw You!”’ responded Senator Eric Schmitt, R-MO, in a post on X.

Congressman and Senate candidate Matt Rosendale, R-MT, wrote ‘Biden’s student loan redistribution scheme will use another $1.2 billion of YOUR tax dollars to “cancel” student loan debt for over 150,000 borrowers. This is a slap in the face to responsible Americans who know when you take out a loan, YOU PAY IT BACK!’

Senator Joni Ernst, R-IA, fired off on X ‘Taxpayers shouldn’t have to foot the bill for a billion dollar student loan bailout. Biden must end his socialist schemes and focus on helping families and students understand the true cost of college!’

‘There is no such thing as student loan “forgiveness,”‘ Senator Tom Cotton, R-AR, fumed online. ‘President Biden is simply transferring the debt to make you and your kids pay back student loans that you never took out.’

Republican lawmakers and Biden critics have slammed the administration effort to cancel student loan debt

Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas

Multiple GOP lawmakers have slammed the Biden administration’s effort to cancel student loan debt saying taxpayers should not have to foot the bill

Wednesday’s announcement from the White House marks the first group of borrowers to be approved for student loan relief under the income-driven Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan’s shortened repayment period.

The Penn Wharton Budget Model estimated last year the SAVE plan would cost $475 billion over 10 years.

When asked where the money would come from with the first $1.2 billion round of forgiveness, senior administration officials argued the Education Department has the authority to administer student loan programs and does not need additional appropriations or an act of Congress like other programs do.

The Biden administration launched the SAVE plan after the Supreme Court last year blocked the president’s original $400 billion student loan cancellation plan in June.

It is one of several alternative efforts the administration is working on to cancel student loan debt.

But critics have raised concerns the efforts have not solved the underlaying issue of skyrocketing college expenses.

The cost of a college education has nearly tripled since 1980.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona standing alongside President Biden at the White House after the Supreme Court blocked the president’s original $400 billion plan to cancel student loan debt

Protesters gathered outside the Supreme Court as the court blocked President Biden’s previous student loan relief plan last June

The SAVE plan is an income driven repayment plan for borrowers who have been making payments for at least ten years and had originally taken out $12,000 or less for college.

For every $1,000 borrowed above that, borrowers can receive forgiveness after an additional year of payments. All borrowers under the SAVE plan receive forgiveness after 20 or 25 years depending on whether they have loans for graduate school.

House Republicans attempted to block implementation of the program last year with the passage of a resolution, but the effort did not have the support in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

To date, more than 7.5 million borrowers have now enrolled in the SAVE plan, with more than 4.3 million having $0 in monthly payments. The Biden administration has touted it as the most affordable income driven repayment plan in history.

Borrowers who have been approved for relief will begin receiving emails from Biden on Wednesday informing them and letting them know they do not need to take any further action.

‘This is truly a lifeline for borrowers,’ Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said of the latest round of student loan debt forgiveness. ‘The people getting the debt relief announced today have sacrificed and saved for a decade or more to make their student loan payments.’

Democrats and advocates have hailed the announcement as relief for Americans struggling under the burden of repaying student loans.

‘Low-balance borrowers are finally getting the relief they deserve. Student debt cancellation results in freedom from a financial burden that has weighed thousands of borrowers down,’ said Natalia Abrams, President of the Student Debt Crisis Center. ‘This is more proof that student debt cancellation is the path forward to achieve an affordable higher education system in this country again.’

The Biden administration has been working on several approaches to cancel student loan debt after the Supreme Court blocked the previous plan including launching the SAVE plan and going through the rulemaking process

For those who have been approved, borrowers will see it reflected in their accounts as student loan servicers begin to process the debt cancellation in the coming days.

Moving forward, the Education Department will continue to identify and cancel student loan debt under the plan on a regular basis.

Starting next week, the department will also start emailing borrowers who can become eligible for forgiveness if they switch into the SAVE program.

Other steps the White House has taken to cancel student loan debt include changes to the public service loan forgiveness and income-driven repayment programs. They have also canceled debt for more than a million borrowers found to have been defrauded by their schools and for more than half a million borrowers with permanent disabilities.

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