The Supreme Court last June ruled that President Biden was out of bounds in his efforts to cancel more than $400 billion in student debt. This week, in a step suggesting the president interprets that ruling to mean forgiving smaller loan amounts is okay, the White House announced Biden's plan to cancel $1.3 billion student debt for more than 150,000 borrowers currently enrolled in the Saving on Valuable Education (SAVE) repayment plan.
"Starting today, the first round of folks who are enrolled in our SAVE student loan repayment plan who have paid their loans for 10 years and borrowed $12,000 or less will have their debt cancelled," Biden posted on social media Wednesday. "That's 150,000 Americans and counting. And we're pushing to relieve more."
If you ask Rep. Keith Self, Biden is forgiving the loan debt of thousands of students because he wants to take their votes to the bank.
"Of course he's buying votes, but the rest of the taxpayers … there's no forgiveness in this. Someone is going to pay these loans back. Now it's going to be you, the taxpayer," the Texas Republican said on Washington Watch Thursday.
Self also argued that the chief executive's actions are an insult to the judicial branch of government. "He unilaterally is supposedly forgiving this debt, which means he doesn't care what the law says, Congress; [and] he doesn't care what the judiciary says, The Supreme Court," he told show host Tony Perkins.
The president is indeed taking this action alone. The White House says Biden's decision – one of more than two dozen executive actions – provides debt cancellation for almost 3.9 million borrowers with a total of $138 billion owed to someone else.
While Biden has ingratiated himself to millions of young voters, Self – who is a member of the House Freedom Caucus – points out there are bills to be paid to lending institutions.
"At one of his press conferences he said, 'Look, the Supreme Court blocked it, but they didn't stop me.' He understands what he's doing. This is not undercover; this is wide open. The question I have is when are the American people going to wake up to the fact that this Biden government picks winners and losers? And the losers, in this case, are the taxpayers," Self stated.
The White House said this round of debt relief had been planned for July, so it's coming to lucky recipients six months ahead of schedule. No reason was given for the decision to move ahead on the calendar.
Since few students have the ability to walk to the administrative offices and pay their higher education bills, Self says Biden is undermining the entire concept of paying for one's own education. Instead, he says, today's students will be inclined to "wait for your turn."
"Remember, the Supreme Court stopped $400 billion worth. They will keep going until election time. This is an overt buying of votes – overt," Self emphasized.
Hey kids, you've done enough
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said students who have paid their bills for a certain period of time have done enough and deserve to skip remaining payments. The administration has plans for more debt relief on the way, he vowed.
"If you've been paying your student debt for a decade, you've done your part & deserve relieve," he wrote on X. "Today we announced relief for over 153K more borrowers through SAVE, providing relief for over 3.9 million borrowers total. And we're not done yet."
Self's reaction? There's government grace only for chosen classes.
"They're only going to do it for people they want in their camp – the Hunter Bidens of the world, these votes that they need. [If] you make your own way to success, you pay back every loan you've ever had, you're not in line for this," he said.
While Biden hands out debt relief during an election year, Self and House Republicans are trying to reduce a national debt of more than $34 trillion and fund the government.
Freedom Caucus members see another Continuing Resolution on the horizon, and they're pressing Speaker Mike Johnson to see that it includes policy riders that would slow down Biden's left-swing social agenda.
Congress will be in session for just three days before the current CR expires on March 1, and 16 GOP representatives signed a letter to Johnson on Wednesday specifying what they believe should be part of any effort to avoid a partial government shutdown.
Last chance for cuts in FY2024
If the Caucus letter is approved, roughly $100 billion in spending cuts will be triggered should the House and Senate cut a deal for a year-long CR.
"This is the only chance we have left to get cuts this year. The fact of the matter is, defense [spending] would stay flat. It would cap defense, and it would have major cuts in the non-defense discretionary spending. I'm happy with that; I like that. I don't know that it will get through, but it's a great idea if we want to have any opportunity to make any cuts with this Congress," Self shared.
He said Congress needs to start planning for the 2025 Fiscal Year which begins on Oct. 1. He believes a new CR is likely.
"I wish I had more colleagues in the House of Representatives who would stand for cuts of any type, just some cuts, so that we can start making the case to the American people that we are serious about cutting government spending," he said.
