U.S. SENATOR KATIE BRITT ISSUES STATEMENT ON SCOTUS DECISION ON STUDENT LOANS

Washington, D.C., June 30, 2023 – U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) today issued the following statement on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Biden v. Nebraska, which overturned the Biden Administration’s unilateral executive action to forgive certain student loan debts.

Earlier this year, Senator Britt joined Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and several Republican colleagues on an amicus brief to the Supreme Court supporting respondents in the case and another legal challenge to the plan, Department of Education v. Brown.

“Hard work and personal responsibility are at the heart of the American Dream. As we knew all along, the Biden Administration’s student loan debt transfer scheme was unfair, unjust, and unlawful. I was proud to join my Republican colleagues on an amicus brief in this important case, and I’ll continue to fight in the Senate against this White House’s attempts to circumvent Congress and impose their radical partisan agenda on Alabama families,” Senator Britt said.

On August 24, 2022, the Biden Administration announced an extension to the pause on student loan repayments and interest accrual, as well as a mass student loan debt “forgiveness” plan.  The plan directed U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to cancel $10,000 in student loans for borrowers with annual incomes of less than $125,000 ($250,000 if married) and to cancel $20,000 in student loans for Pell Grant recipients who meet the income thresholds. The Congressional Budget Office has projected that this plan would cost around $400 billion.

Senator Britt joined a bipartisan group of 51 colleagues in voting to pass a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act to block the Biden Administration’s student loan debt plan. She was a co-sponsor of this measure as well. The disapproval resolution also passed the U.S. House of Representatives on a bipartisan 218-203 vote but was vetoed by President Biden.

Senator Britt is also an original cosponsor of the Stop Reckless Student Loan Actions Act, which would limit executive authority to unilaterally cancel federal student loan debt and suspend or defer student loan payments or interest accrual on such loans.

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