Senate votes to block student loan forgiveness but Biden vows to veto bill
The Senate approved a House resolution on Thursday to repeal Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan.
The vote came during a week when student loans have been at the center of public debate. The forgiveness plan faces sharp scrutiny in Congress and the supreme court. And the choice to resume debt repayments, which have been on pause since March 2020, has been tied up in the high-profile deal to lift the debt ceiling and avert a dangerous national default.
The decision on Thursday would cancel Joe Biden’s plan to forgive up to $10,000 of debt for most borrowers and $20,000 for Pell grant recipients. With 52 yes votes and 46 no votes, senators kept largely within party lines with a few exceptions. President Biden has vowed to veto the bill.
But Biden’s plan faces its biggest challenge in the US supreme court, which has a conservative majority and is expected to deliver its ruling later this month.
“Higher education in the US has traditionally not been so central to so many large public debates,” said Jon Fansmith, senior vice president of government relations at the American Council on Education.
“I think the fact you are seeing efforts to address loan forgiveness and student loan repayment as part of the debt ceiling deal, as part of large government spending bills, speaks to the growing importance of college education in American politics.”
In an effort to curb government spending, Republicans have railed against student loan forgiveness since Biden made it one of his priorities.
According to CBO estimates, repealing the plan would reduce spending by nearly $320bn in fiscal year 2023 and about $316bn year over year for the next decade.
A small group of Democrats voted in favor of repealing Biden’s plan, including Senator Joe
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