Editor’s note: This column was co-authored by Sal Nuzzo and Grover Norquist.
President Biden isn’t taking no for an answer.
The Senate denied his plan to cancel student debt and burden taxpayers. Polls show Americans are overwhelmingly opposed to having those who never went to college foot the bill for graduates who don’t want to pay off their student debt.
The Supreme Court is expected to tell Biden “NO” – he does not have the constitutional authority to forgive student debt and pass it on to taxpayers.
However, Biden continues to try to please far-left politicians like Bernie Sanders and AOC. He has another plan.
Biden’s Department of Education Is Using Class Action Lawsuit as Backdoor to Federal Student Loan Financial Aid. Members of Congress rightly question DOE’s motives in settling a lawsuit that will burden American taxpayers at least $6 billion and potentially be used to circumvent the Supreme Court and cost taxpayers billions of dollars more.
In 2018, students submitted, among others: class action lawsuit against the DOE for allegedly ignoring their loan forgiveness applications under a federal program under which the DOE can cancel the student loan debt of graduates who claim they were misled or defrauded by the university. As part of the relief originally requested in the lawsuit, the DOE was only to review the backlog of claims and make a ruling on them individually, i.e. statutory law. However, the settlement proposal far exceeded the original relief request and instead forgave 200,000 borrowers’ massive student loans to the tune of $6 billion.
The lawsuit’s settlement essentially evolved from a case that asked the DOE to adjudicate the claims to a case that could serve as a workaround if Biden’s student loan rescue plan is rejected by Supreme Court.
Members of Congress fear that the DOE is playing politics with taxpayers’ money. The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce are questioning the Justice Department’s motives for settling a lawsuit that would burden American taxpayers with a multibillion-dollar bailout. In recent letterReps. James Comer (R-Ky.) and Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) suggested the settlement may have been “duly influenced by political considerations and conflicts of interest.”
The letter also says that if the Supreme Court rejects Biden’s student rescue plan, the Biden administration may attempt to apply the lawsuit as legal justification to initiate a modern mass loan relief program and, in doing so, “would take control of the judicial system in order to enact a radical program canceling student loans.”
President Biden does not have the authority to attempt such a radical loan waiver. Congress holds the purse strings and should be the only government body making decisions that place such a heavy burden on the American taxpayer who will be burdened with debt. Representative Warren Davidson (Ohio) presented: Bill to prevent federal student loan forgiveness at the class level without an explicit allocation of funds by Congress.
Biden’s excessive use of student loans has caught the attention of many members of Congress. Both the Chamber and Senate showed bipartisan opposition to President Biden’s student debt relief agenda and voted to rescind the freeze on federal student loan payments and interest. As expected, Biden ignored Congress and vetoed the joint resolution expressing disapproval
And it’s bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Actthat was recently signed into law included a prohibition on the DOE extending student loan repayment suspensions sixty days after June 30. Both Democrats and Republicans support resuming student loan payments.
Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan has not received overwhelming support from the American public, and voters are divided on the issue of student loan forgiveness. According to A last surveyless than half of Americans support Biden’s forgiveness plan “in its current form.” This isn’t surprising, considering the plan could cost taxpayers about $400 billion.
Biden’s student loan bailout burdens American taxpayers with multi-billion dollar debt. American taxpayers who choose not to go to college should not have to bail out students who do. Congress should continue to investigate the DOE and put pressure on the Biden administration’s massive exploitation of the American taxpayer.
Sal Nuzzo is senior vice president of the James Madison Institute. Grover Norquist is president of Americans for Tax Reform.
