WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) led Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Tim Scott (R-SC), and Thom Tillis (R-NC) in re-introducing the Student Loan Accountability Act, legislation to prohibit the Biden Administration from cancelling student loan debt at the expense of millions of Americans who chose to not go to college or worked diligently to pay off any student debt. The senators first introduced this legislation in May 2022.
The Biden Administration has already implemented $620 billion of debt cancellation, and combined with newer cancellation plans, all of the White House’s recent student debt cancellation policies will add up to$1.4 trillion to the national debt. For comparison, the Biden Administration has spent more on these policies than the federal government has spent on higher education throughout our nation’s history. These reckless decisions further fuel inflation for hardworking Americans and unfairly penalize individuals who weighed financial considerations, such as affordability, when making higher education decisions.
“Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling last summer that President Biden’s student loan forgiveness proposal was unconstitutional, the White House continues to cancel student loans and publicly entertain additional cancellation policies,” said Senator Romney. “Not only are the Biden Administration’s student loan cancellation schemes morally questionable—forcing hardworking Americans who have already repaid their loans or decided to pursue alternative education paths to foot others’ bills—these policies are wildly inflationary, fiscally reckless, and do nothing to actually address the real problem of increasing higher education costs.”
“The Biden-Harris student loan schemes do not ‘forgive’ debt. They transfer the burden from those who willingly took out the loans onto Americans who chose to not go to college or already sacrificed to pay off their loans,” said Dr. Cassidy. “These schemes are nothing more than an attempt to buy votes before an election at the expense of taxpayers.”
“President Biden’s student loan forgiveness scheme is misguided, deemed unconstitutional, and economically regressive— the list could go on. There is no reality where hardworking taxpayers should foot the bill for someone else’s degree and be slapped with loans they didn’t sign up for,” said Senator Scott. “Unfortunately, the Biden-Harris administration’s political pandering continues to rear its ugly head and continues to harm the exact people they are claiming to help.”
“President Biden’s illegal student loan cancellation plan is not only unfair for the millions of people who have worked hard and sacrificed to pay off their student loans. Additionally, hardworking North Carolinians, many of whom do not have student loans themselves, should not have to pay for someone else’s degree,” said Senator Tillis. “Instead, we must address the root causes of the rising cost of higher education, and I am proud to introduce this legislation with my colleagues to hold President Biden accountable and prevent him from causing more irreparable damage.”
The real impact of cancelling student loan debt:
- Increases inflation rates, forcing millions of families that hold no student loan debt to suffer higher inflation, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
- Worsens inequality since nearly one-third of all student debt is owed by the wealthiest 20% and only 8% is owed by the bottom 20%, according to a Brookings Institution study.
- Adds up to $1.4 trillion to the national debt. The Administration has spent more on its student loan cancellation policies than the federal government has spent on higher education over our country’s history.
- Rewards Washington, DC residents more than any other area as their average borrower owes nearly $55,000, the highest in the nation.
- Does nothing to fix the student loan program or address the rising costs or quality of higher education—instead incentivizes colleges and universities to raise tuition.
How the Student Loan Accountability Act works:
- Prohibits the Department of Education, Department of Justice, and the Department of Treasury from taking any action to cancel or forgive the outstanding balances, or portions of balances, of covered loans.
- Includes exemptions for existing targeted federal student loan forgiveness, cancellation, or repayment programs currently in effect under the Higher Education Act, such as the Public Service Loan Forgiveness and Teacher Loan Forgiveness programs.