Americans continue to debate the pros and cons of student loans, and President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan has been a popular target of criticism for conservatives across the country. Earlier today, Mississippi’s Senators Roger Wicker, (R) and Cindy Hyde-Smith, (R) today reiterated their staunch opposition of Biden’s student loan debt transfer plan. Hyde-Smith and Wicker also pledged to vote to for Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution (H.J.Res.45). which would overturn the president’s rule. The CRA has already passed the U.S. House of Representatives. Wicker and Hyde-Smith cosponsored the Senate version.
“The president’s plan never had any legal footing, and it is an insult to working Americans who chose to avoid student debt or have repaid it in full,” Wicker said. “This is not a ‘forgiveness’ plan. It’s an unconditional debt transfer. Repealing this scheme would protect our current workforce from footing someone else’s bill and teach our next generation that they cannot expect others to pay for their obligations.”
Sen. Hyde-Smith warned of a burden transferred being transferred to other Americans rather than being resolved. “President Biden is leading Americans to believe he can make student debt disappear because that sounds much nicer than the truth, which is that he is just handing over the burden of student loans to hardworking Americans who have either paid off their loans or chose not to borrow,” Hyde-Smith said. “This legislation would block this socialist scheme and protect Mississippians from being forced to pay off someone else’s debts.”
In March, the Mississippi senators joined 45 of their Republican colleagues in a companion CRA resolution after the Government Accountability Office announced that the policy is classified as a rule and eligible to be overturned under the CRA. The resolution S.J. Res. 22 would stop Biden’s plan to transfer up to $20,000 in student loan debt per borrower onto taxpayers with no conditions, costing an estimated $400 billion.
According to a news release from Sen. Wicker, the CRA would also end the pause on student loan payments, which costs taxpayers $5 billion a month and has been extended six times under the Biden administration. The pause will have cost Americans a total of $195 billion by the time Biden’s most recent extension is set to expire in August.
Since 2004, O’Hern has worked with political campaigns in roles ranging from major projects involving nationwide digital marketing for U.S. Presidential candidates, U.S. Congressmen, state governors, and state representatives. O’Hern’s journalism background includes news reporting and editing for various organizations and news publications in Alabama and Florida since 2002. O’Hern graduated from Samford University in Birmingham, Ala with a degree in journalism and a minor in political science.