House Passes Bill Blocking Student-Loan Forgiveness and Ending Payment Pause

A bill was passed by the House that would permanently block student-loan forgiveness and end payment pause.

People rally in support of the Biden administration’s student debt relief plan in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in February. (Photo: Drew Angerer | Getty Images)

Bill Blocking Student-Loan Forgiveness

The House of Representatives has recently passed a bill aimed at blocking student-loan forgiveness and terminating the payment pause that has been in effect.

The bill aimed at blocking student-loan forgiveness, which gained a vote of 218-203, seeks to overturn President Joe Biden’s plan to provide debt relief of up to $20,000 for federal borrowers while abruptly ending the ongoing suspension of student-loan payments, Business Insider reported.

Republican Representative Bob Good introduced the bill aimed at blocking student-loan forgiveness back in March and has expressed his opposition to Biden’s executive order.

Good wrote on Twitter that the burden of student loan debt should not be placed on hard-working Americans who did not willingly assume such financial obligations or have diligently paid off their loans.

With the bill’s passage in the House, it now moves on to the Senate, where its prospects may face greater challenges due to the Democratic majority. In the event that the bill successfully clears the Senate, President Biden has made it clear that he will veto the legislation.

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Biden’s Veto in Blocking Student-Loan Forgiveness

The Office of Management and Budget released a statement on Monday affirming Biden’s intention to veto the bill aimed at blocking student-loan forgiveness reaches his desk.

During a press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre urged the millions of eligible student borrowers eagerly awaiting news on their debt relief to pay attention to the vote and witness the Republican lawmakers who would vote against their interests despite having their own loans forgiven.

She emphasized that President Biden would not tolerate such actions and would veto the bill.

The bill employed the Congressional Review Act (CRA), a mechanism that allows Congress to expedite the overturning of final rules set by government agencies.

Some advocates and Democrats have raised concerns about the bill’s language within the CRA statute, suggesting that it might even require reinstating payments made during the student-loan payment pause.

The Student Borrower Protection Center and the American Federation of Teachers published a report analyzing the bill’s impact on borrowers enrolled in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which provides debt forgiveness to government and nonprofit workers after ten years of qualifying payments.

GOP lawmakers have dismissed the notion that the bill is retroactive, and the Department of Education has not provided a comment regarding the potential reinstatement of loans under the CRA.

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