U.S. Senate Republicans on Nov. 15 failed to garner enough votes to block a new Biden administration rule on an income-driven repayment plan for federal student loans.
The resolution did not pass, 49-50. Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia was the sole Democrat who joined Republicans in backing the resolution.
Following the vote, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was glad the resolution failed.
“There are millions of students, poor, working class … who would have benefit from what the president has done,” Schumer said.
There is no companion resolution in the House, where Republicans have a slim majority. The White House has already vowed to veto the measure should it make its way to the president’s desk.
“This legislation would mean higher payments for student loan borrowers and would dramatically raise costs for graduates,” the White House said in a statement.
“It is exactly the wrong direction.”
A Congressional Review Act, or CRA, allows Congress to overturn any regulatory rules made by the White House. A CRA needs just 51 votes to pass, unlike the usual 60 votes required to defeat a filibuster.
On the Senate floor Wednesday, Cassidy argued that the new income-driven repayment plan does not “forgive debt.”
“It transfers the burden of $559 billion in federal student loans to the 87% of Americans who don’t have student loans, who chose not to go to college, or already re sponsibly paid off their debts,” he said.
The Department of Education unveiled the Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE, plan hours after the Supreme Court in June struck down the Biden administration’s one-time student debt cancellation that would have forgiven up to $10,000 in federal student loan debt for single adults making under $125,000 a year, or under $250,000 for married couples.
The new income-driven repayment plan calculates payments based on a borrower’s income and family size and forgives balances after a set number of years. More than 5.5 million student loan borrowers have already enrolled in the SAVE plan, according to data released by the Department of Education. — ARIANA FIGUEROA/NH BULLETIN
