It’s not new that Republicans have been trying all options to overturn President Joe Biden’s loan forgiveness plan that was released last August.  

The latest barrage against it came after the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) — an auditing agency for Congress — determined Friday that it is a federal rule, stated Higher Ed Dive. 

Making it subject to the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which would allow lawmakers to reject recently enacted executive actions; a trio of Republican senators announced Friday they will try to block the program using it. 

Arguments on the case were heard by the U.S. Supreme Court last month, but a final decision still should take time to be announced — but the conservative majority of the high court have appeared skeptical of the Biden administration’s intention to cancel up to $400 billion in federal loan debt.

The Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, John Cornyn of Texas, and Joni Ernst of Iowa have been clear about their opposition to the program. They stated that it strikes against Americans who never attended college or paid off their student loans without government assistance, according to the Higher Ed Dive. 

Cassidy said in a statement that student loan relief “does not ‘forgive’ debt, it just transfers the burden from those who willingly took out loans to those who never went to college, or sacrificed to pay their loans off.” 

The action probably won’t go anywhere, since for a resolution to be overturned using the CRA it requires a simple majority to pass — and Democrats currently control the Senate. 

A U.S. Department of Education spokesperson criticized in an email the actions that Republican lawmakers have been doing to prevent students from having debt relief, and that they are confident the plan complies with the law. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) released today the following statement on Republicans attempt to block student loan relief:

“At a time when millions of Americans are struggling with the overwhelming burden of student debt, Republicans show us just how callous and uncaring they can be to families trying to make ends meet. The Biden plan would provide real relief to the people that need it—with nearly 90% of relief dollars going to those making less than $75,000 a year. This isn’t a giveaway to high earners, no one in the top 5% of incomes will receive a penny in relief. We will continue to fight this cruel Republican attempt to end student debt relief with everything we have.”

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