Democrats Are Urging Biden to Cancel $50K in Student Loan Debt Through Executive Order
“More than four dozen Democratic lawmakers in both the House and the Senate joined the resolution on Thursday.”
Remember a few months ago when executive orders were a subversion of democracy? Democrats don’t.
FOX News reports:
Democrats urge Biden to cancel up to $50k in student loan debt by executive action
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Ayanna Pressley on Thursday urged President Biden use his executive authority to cancel up to $50,000 in student loan debt for federal student loan borrowers.
Schumer, D-N.Y., Warren, D-Mass., and Pressley, D-Mass., on Thursday reintroduced a resolution, which would allow the secretary of education to “cancel up to $50,000 in federal student debt.”
The resolution also called on Biden to take executive action to “administratively cancel up to $50,000 in Federal student loan debt for Federal student loan borrowers” using “existing legal authorities” under the Higher Education act of 1965. The resolution also “encourages” Biden to use executive authority under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, which would prevent administrative debt cancellation from resulting in a tax liability for borrowers.
The lawmakers also encouraged Biden to “continue to pause” student loan payments and interest for federal student loan borrowers for the “entire duration of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
More than four dozen Democratic lawmakers in both the House and the Senate joined the resolution on Thursday.
“Student loan debt is weighing down millions of families in New York and across this country,” Schumer said in a statement. “During a time of historic and overlapping crises, which are disproportionately impacting communities of color, we must do everything in our power to deliver real relief to the American people, lift up our struggling economy and close the racial wealth gap. Democrats are committed to big, bold action, and this resolution to cancel up to $50,000 in federal student loan debt is one of the strongest steps the president can take to achieve these goals.”
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Comments
When did Executive Orders become Royal Decrees?
The upshot of this is that my wife and I are suckers, not only for having saved to fund my son’s college education so he will graduate with no student debt, but we’re also paying taxes so that free-loaders who took on huge debt can walk away and let the rest of us will pay it off. The college bills will get paid, it’s just a question of who ends up paying them.
Why only $50k? Why not all?
Do they even give a reason for choosing that number? The only rationale I can think of is that they want to be able to come back a second time and do more, then claim credit for going the extra mile.
I think there may be language in the enabling legislation that mentions that amount.
Which does nothing to answer the question, why? What’s so special about $50k?
I doubt that Joe Brains has the power to unilaterally forgive debt without Congressional action.
If he did it, I hope there are some honest debtors bothered enough buy it that they would serve as plaintiffs to challenge the action. They may be able to establish the elements for standing by arguing that forgiveness of the debt constitutes income to them under I.R.C. Section 61 et seq. and creates a tax burden on them that financially injures them.
On the surface, the list of arguments and theories against his action would be that it is ultra vires, that it did not comply with the Admin. Procedures Act, that it violates the separation of powers (perhaps need a member of Congress as a co-plaintiff to assert it), and perhaps a longshot type claim that it creates a tax burden on a citizen that only Congress can create under the Tax and Spend Clause and is an illegitimate exercise of the power by the Executive Branch. With time, attorneys could probably formulate others as well.
From the article above:
“[They want] Biden to use executive authority under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, which would prevent administrative debt cancellation from resulting in a tax liability for borrowers.”
How is that legal? Can the federal government steal money from lenders like that without any kind of due process? Or is the Federal Government going to cover the principle that was borrowed and the interest currently due?
My wife wants our money back that we saved to pay for our sons college education. Also Is it fair that people who didn’t go to college and work hard today to make a living should pay for other people to go to college?
Of course Biden wants to do this. He bought votes by promising coronavirus checks to everyone and free college to students and recent students. Those of us who paid for our education and our kids’ education were suckers.
Also, if the Feds pay (or help pay) for college, the colleges can continue raising their tuition and fees without driving students away. So college administrators love the idea of getting free money from the government.