The House Education and the Workforce Committee introduced legislation that would repeal the Biden Administration’s action to cancel up to $20,000 in individual student loan debt.  The measure would also immediately reinstate the repayment of student loans by borrowers, which has been paused since the onset of the pandemic, and which is currently set to restart September 1. The bill was approved on a party-line vote but is unlikely to pass the Democratically-controlled Senate or be signed by the president.

During a divisive mark up, Chair Virginia Foxx (R-NC) called the “illegal action” of student loan forgiveness “nothing more than a transfer of wealth.” In her opening statement, Rep. Foxx noted that 13% of Americans have student loan debt and that half of it is for graduate school. She is concerned that taxpayers from “low-income families, disadvantaged populations, and blue-collar workers who never stepped foot on a college campus” will be required to cover the cost of the loan forgiveness if it is not stopped. She also called for “addressing the lack of accountability for the hundreds of billions of dollars that flow to colleges and universities that charge far too much for degrees with little or no financial value” and for overall reform in the student loan program.”

Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA) opposed the resolution because it would deny student loan debt relief to 43 million borrowers.  “Importantly, the people who would be impacted the most by this resolution are not the ‘wealthy and well-connected.’  Under the President’s plan, 90% of the relief would go to borrowers earning less than $75,000 a year.” 

In his press release after the vote, Rep. Scott included a table showing the number of borrowers who would be denied one-time debt relief for college costs broken out by the congressional districts of each Republican committee member. He said, “The bottom line is that we have a responsibility to strengthen support for those seeking a college degree—not because everybody should be forced to get one—but, for those who want a college degree, they should have access to that opportunity.”

How to handle the student loan forgiveness proposal has received significant attention, including: a Senate companion bill sponsored by Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, mirroring the House resolution; a provision in the Limit, Save, Grow debt ceiling bill banning the implementation of the proposal; and the litigation being heard by the Supreme Court as to the legality of the executive authority.  

Even if both chambers passed the joint resolution, the president would not sign it, as the Administration will wait for a ruling from the Supreme Court.