Senator Grassley. (photo from Senate Budget Committee hearing)
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is joining the chorus of Republicans who are working to dismantle President Biden’s proposal to eliminate student loan debt.
Grassley says the plan would unfairly transfer the burden of payment from the original borrowers onto the backs of all taxpayers nationwide. Grassley says, “Hardworking Americans, including those who chose not to attend college, or who already paid off their own student loans, would be on the hook for an estimated $400 billion in unpaid student loans.”
Grassley says the nation’s budget and fiscal health have been in decline since Biden took office, and he says members of Congress took action Monday which they hope can put a stop to the “lunacy.” “I joined nearly 40 Republicans in the Senate to introduce a Congressional Review Act resolution. If passed, the resolution would overturn the Biden administration student loan forgiveness plan,” Grassley says. “It would also end the pandemic era pause on student loan repayments.”
The Biden plan would allow for up to $10,000 in college loans to be wiped out for those who make less than 125-thousand dollars a year, and the forgiveness of up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients. Grassley says the president’s “budgetary incompetence” needs to come to an end.
“The student loan cancellation proposal is yet another example of poor financial decision making,” Grassley says. “It’s also an act of serious federal overreach, maybe violating the Constitution and separation of powers.” He says he’ll work to win passage of bipartisan bills that would better inform students about the true costs of going to college.
The administration says more than $400,000 Iowa borrowers are eligible for student loan forgiveness, and 61% of them are Pell Grant recipients.