Several Democratic members of Congress have called on President Joe Biden to take more action on student loan debt following the Supreme Court’s decision Friday, which struck down the president’s loan forgiveness plan.
“This disappointing and cruel ruling on student debt shows the callousness of the MAGA Republican-controlled Supreme Court,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Twitter. “The fight will not end here. The Biden administration has remaining legal avenues to provide a broad-based cancellation of student debt.”
This disappointing and cruel ruling on student debt shows the callousness of the MAGA Republican-controlled Supreme Court.
The fight will not end here.
The Biden administration has remaining legal avenues to provide a broad-based student debt cancellation.
—Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) June 30, 2023
Schumer’s comments come shortly after the Supreme Court ruled against Biden and sided with Republican-led states that disagreed with the president’s student debt forgiveness plan. Biden previously announced his plan to cancel up to $25,000 of debt for Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 for borrowers with incomes below $125,000.
According to the Biden administration, the plan would have benefited up to 43 million Americans who had college debt. Under Biden’s plan, at least 20 million borrowers would have fully repaid their debt.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty
The decision leads many to wonder exactly why the Supreme Court would vote this way.
“The Secretary asserts that the HEROES Act gives him the authority to cancel $430 billion of student loan principal. It does not. We hold today that the Act allows the Secretary to ‘waive or modify’ applicable existing statutory or regulatory provisions to financial aid programs under the Education Act, not to rewrite that statute from scratch,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion, referring to Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.
In a statement, a White House source said news week, “While we disagree with the court, we are preparing for this scenario. The President will have more to say today. The President will make it clear that he is not done fighting yet and will announce next steps to protect student loan borrowers. “.
In addition to Schumer, several other Democrats have also called on Biden to take further action following the Supreme Court decision.
“I call on President Biden and Secretary Cardona to use other available tools to quickly pay off student debt. The people demand and deserve this long overdue economic relief and a promise is a promise. The Biden administration must act immediately. Don’t give up,” Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Massachusetts, said in a statement.
Missouri Democratic Representative Cori Bush saying“@POTUS we need you to act again to right this damage. Our communities were promised student debt relief and we must use every tool at our disposal to deliver.”
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren also called on Biden to act, saying, “This fight is not over. The president has more tools to cancel student debt, and he must use them.”
The same Supreme Court that struck down Roe now refuses to follow the plain language of the student loan cancellation law. This fight is not over. The president has more tools to cancel student debt, and he must use them.
—Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) June 30, 2023
Alabama Democratic Rep. Terri Sewell urged her colleagues to “take action to combat the student debt crisis and make higher education more affordable for our students.”
2/ In light of this terrible decision, I call on my colleagues in Congress to take action to combat the student debt crisis and make higher education more affordable for our students.
— Rep. Terri A. Sewell (@RepTerriSewell) June 30, 2023
news week contacted the White House by email for comment.