Biden's White House says the GOP's 'MAGA trickle-down economic plan' will increase student-loan payments and raise inflation for Americans
Manuel Balce Ceneta, File/AP Photo
- Biden said increasing student-loan payments is part of the GOP "MAGA trickle-down economic plan."
- The White House said Republicans will raise inflation through their economic priorities.
- Biden's student-debt relief plan is currently paused as an appeals court makes a decision on its legality.
A week and a half ahead of the midterm elections, President Joe Biden isn't holding back on his criticism of Republicans' economic agenda.
On Thursday, the White House released what it calls "Congressional Republicans' Five-Part Plan to Increase Inflation and Costs for American Families," which criticizes policies that some GOP lawmakers have championed, like tax cuts for the rich and cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Additionally, the White House called out Republicans' efforts to block Biden's up to $20,000 in broad student-loan forgiveness in what it called their "mega MAGA trickle-down economic plan," saying their push to block relief would increase student-loan payments for millions of borrowers.
"Republican officials are suing to block the Biden administration's student debt relief plan. If they succeed, that would mean higher debt payments for the over 40 million Americans who could benefit from up to $20,000 in student debt relief," the White House said.
Just days after Biden officially launched the online application for student-loan forgiveness, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals placed a temporary stay on the relief, meaning that while borrowers can continue applying and the Education Department can continue reviewing the applications, it cannot discharge any loans until the court makes a final decision on the legality of the debt cancellation.
While the stay was in response to a lawsuit filed by six Republican-led states who argued the relief would hurt their states' tax revenues, it was just one of at least five other lawsuits filed by conservative groups seeking to block the implementation of the loan forgiveness.
Even before Biden's August announcement of the debt relief, many Republican lawmakers were suspect of its legality. The administration is relying on 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, but Republicans have argued that the current broad forgiveness falls outside the scope of the authority granted by that 19-year-old law.
And once lawsuits arose, those lawmakers lent their support to them — top Republican on the House education committee Virginia Foxx, for example, said she will "continue to support those challenges and protect taxpayer dollars from this abuse of the executive pen" after one of the lawsuits was dismissed.
A decision from the 8th Circuit could come this week, but Biden's administration maintains that it has the authority to enact broad student-loan forgiveness, and borrowers should keep applying for the relief.
"What we need to do right now is get as many people to apply, and let us fight the fight in the courts," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said during an NAACP town hall on Wednesday night. "We feel very strongly that not only do we have the authority, but it's the right thing to do to help folks get on their feet. So while there's a stay right now, while appeals are done, we're asking folks to submit their application. I think we have over 22 million people's information already. That's about more than half of the people that are eligible for this, so don't tell me people are not hungry for this."
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/E0tTv52
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