Elizabeth Warren slams Rick Scott's 'shameless attempt' to pass a bill that would block Biden's student-loan forgiveness
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- Elizabeth Warren slammed Rick Scott for trying to pass a bill blocking student-loan forgiveness.
- She said it's a "shameless attempt" to keep the relief from reaching millions of working Americans.
- Scott argued the relief is illegal and will benefit those with "Ph.Ds in poetry."
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren isn't happy that Republicans are trying to stop student-loan forgiveness from reaching millions of Americans.
After President Joe Biden announced up to $20,000 in student-debt cancellation for federal borrowers at the end of August, Republican Sen. Rick Scott introduced legislation that would require Congress to approve any blanket debt relief. Senate Democrats blocked that bill from passing, and on Wednesday, Warren blasted Scott for even trying to push the legislation through.
"This is a shameful attempt by Republicans to keep working Americans buried under mountains of student debt," Warren said on the Senate floor.
"Senator Scott's bill is just one of Republicans' desperate efforts to block cancellation for millions of Americans," she added. "Now, Republicans are happy to pass out tax breaks and regulatory loopholes for billionaires and giant corporations, but they are fighting tooth and nail to keep working families from getting a penny of relief."
Warren also pushed back on Scott's — and many of his GOP colleagues — argument that student-debt relief will benefit the wealthy and those with advanced degrees, saying that "none—none—of the help goes to people making more than $125,000 a year," referring to the income cap Biden placed on his policy, and that the vast majority of borrowers benefitting from the relief did not attend Ivy League schools.
Still, during his floor speech after his bill was blocked, Scott reiterated conservative criticisms of student-loan forgiveness.
"Now a construction worker in Florida is having to foot the bill for the loans of a Harvard grad which they voluntarily accepted for an education they received," Scott said during his remarks. "So here is what Democrats are saying to that construction worker: You didn't go to college? Democrats don't care. You'll pay the debt of lawyers and doctors. And you'll pay for those who wanted Ph.Ds in poetry. Talk about poetic IN-justice!"
He added that "Biden wants to spend money that Congress has not appropriated for a loan forgiveness that Congress has not authorized. It's illegal. It's unconstitutional. It's a gross abuse of authority and I won't stand for it. Congress must assert its authority here. We have the power of the purse. Not the president."
Other GOP lawmakers have also introduced bills to block student-loan forgiveness, arguing that the scale of this relief is illegal. While Biden maintains he has the authority to implement this policy under the HEROES Act of 2003, which gives the Education Secretary the ability to waive or modify student-loan balances in connection with a national emergency like COVID-19, Republicans have said this is an overreach of that authority. Some of them, like Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Virginia Foxx, have even expressed intent to bring legal action on the debt relief and block it in court.
Still, Democrats are moving forward with the relief. Biden's administration is planning to make application forms for student-loan forgiveness live in early October and will release additional details on the relief before payments are scheduled to resume in January 2023.
"I'm celebrating because cancellation will provide life-changing relief for working families across this country," Warren said. "And that's why I object to the Senate Republicans' shameless attempt to deny them this relief they need."
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