White House threatens to veto GOP action on student loan debt relief program
from: Brett Samuels, The hill
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Updated:
(The hill) – The White House on Monday threatened to veto a Republican-led House bill that would block the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness program.
In a statement on administrative policy, the White House expressed its concerns a decision by the House of Representatives to reject the student loan forgiveness planoffering up to $20,000 in relief to millions of eligible student borrowers.
“This resolution is an unprecedented attempt to undermine our historic economic recovery and would deprive more than 40 million hard-working Americans of much-needed student debt relief,” the administration said in a statement, adding that President Biden vetoed the measure would intervene, if that were the case, came to his desk.
The White House also warned that repealing the student loan relief program would disproportionately hurt America’s middle class, noting that about 90 percent of student debt relief was expected to go to those earning less than $75,000 a year.
“Americans should have some extra breathing room while they recover from the economic strains related to the COVID-19 pandemic,” the White House said.
The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the resolution this week and is expected to pass with Republican votes. Their fate in the Democratic-controlled Senate is far less certain.
The House decision is the latest threat to Biden’s student loan forgiveness program, which was a fundamental policy decision that produced a result big campaign promise. The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the program’s legality in the coming months after Republican attorneys general filed a lawsuit.
