Months after the United States Supreme Court ruled President Biden’s sweeping student loan handout was illegal, he is forging ahead with another partial loan forgiveness.
“Today, my Administration is canceling student debt for 277,000 more people, bringing the total number of Americans who have been approved for debt relief so far under my Administration to 4.3 million borrowers through various actions,” the White House said on Friday.
It comes at a whopping price tag of $7.4 billion for taxpayers, who are already dealing with crushing inflation.
“I will never stop working to cancel student debt – no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stop us,” Biden said.
BIDEN TO UNVEIL NEW STUDENT LOAN HANDOUT THAT COULD SLASH DEBT FOR MILLIONS BEFORE ELECTION DAY
Friday’s announcement comes as shoppers across the United States are seeing their food costs soaring.
Since Biden took office in Jan. 2021, the price of eggs is up 104% — from just $1.47 per dozen to a whopping $3.00, on average.
Other items have seen colossal increases, including bread, which is up 29%; the price of chicken per pound is up 25%; flour per pound is up 24%; and, a stick of butter per pound is up 23% since 2021.
In Friday’s statement, President Biden reminded that he intends to continue his election-year forgiveness, effectively lifting financial burdens for millions of borrowers just months ahead of seeking their vote in his 2020 rematch with presumptive Republican nominee, former President Trump.
“And, earlier this week, I laid out my Administration’s new plans that would cancel student debt for more than 30 million Americans when combined with everything we’ve done so far,” Biden said, per the White House.
He added, “From day one of my Administration, I promised to fight to ensure higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity.”
The announcement comes amid an effort by Biden to forgive up to $20,000 for all borrowers, regardless of income — prompting concerns from Republicans.
“The Senate should block Biden’s socialist student debt relief program,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told Fox News Digital. “Hardworking Tennesseans should not be paying for wealthy coastal elites to get PhDs in gender studies. The Supreme Court already struck down Biden’s previous student loan scam as unconstitutional, but once again, he is attempting to defy the rule of law.”
SOME STUDENT LOAN BORROWERS ARE GETTING REFUNDS ON TOP OF LOAN FORGIVENESS
Republican critics of the plan have accused him of trying to buy votes at a time when progressive youth are becoming disenchanted with Biden over his stance on Israel’s war in Gaza.
House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital, “Joe Biden is forcing the American people to foot the bill for his illegal student loan bailout in a desperate attempt to save his failing campaign.”
According to the White House, the 277,000 borrowers are enrolled in the Biden administration’s new SAVE Plan — which automatically forgives outstanding balances after a certain number of payments are met or if borrowers make less than $15 per hour — or were approved for relief under the Income-Driven Repayment Plans and Public Service Loan Forgiveness programs.
“Today’s announcement comes on top of the significant progress we’ve made for students and borrowers over the past three years. That includes: providing the largest increases to the maximum Pell Grant in over a decade; fixing Public Service Loan Forgiveness so teachers, nurses, police officers, and other public service workers get the relief they are entitled to under the law, and holding colleges accountable for taking advantage of students and families,” the statement continued.
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The Supreme Court ruled on June 30, 2023, that the Biden administration lacked constitutional authority for such student loan handouts.
The total cost of Biden’s student loan handouts is over $153,000,000,000.
Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind and Julia Johnson contributed to this report.