Republicans take aim at Biden’s authority on student loans – By Aris Folley (The Hill) / April 27, 2022
Republicans have introduced legislation that seeks to put a stop to the Biden administration’s current pandemic freeze on federal student loan payments while also limiting the president’s authority to suspend repayments going forward.
Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) and Republican Sens. Richard Burr (N.C.), Mike Braun (Ind.), Bill Cassidy (La.) and Roger Marshall (Kan.) introduced the bill, dubbed the “Stop Reckless Student Loan Actions Act,” on Wednesday.
“As Americans continue to return to the workforce more than two years since the pandemic began, it is time for borrowers to resume repayment of student debt obligations,” Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican, said in a statement.
“Taxpayers and working families should not be responsible for continuing to bear the costs associated with this suspension of repayment. This common-sense legislation would protect taxpayers and prevent President Biden from suspending federal student loan repayments in perpetuity,” Thune continued, while adding any future suspension of loan repayments “should be left to Congress, not the Biden administration.”
