U.S. Senator Joni Ernst lambasted the Biden Administration’s proposal to forgive just shy of a trillion dollars in existing student loan debt during her remarks on the Senate floor yesterday (Thursday). The proposed one-time debt relief has been blocked in federal court, but the U.S. Department of Education is seeking to overturn the injunction on loan forgiveness. Biden’s plan includes up to $20,000 in debt relief for students who received a Federal Pell Grant in college and up to $10,000 for students who didn’t qualify for Pell Grants. Ernst calls the plan debt transfer rather than debt cancellation and says the costs are staggering.
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Ernst notes Biden’s plan would be the most significant expenditure toward higher education in U.S. history. She says if the injunction is overturned, it will outpace federal college aid programs created explicitly for lower-income students.
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Ernst adds that passing that debt on to other Americans who chose to enter the workforce immediately after high school is unreasonable. She says it also weakens existing post-secondary education incentive programs.
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Ernst is backing a Republican proposal in the Senate that would block the president’s loan forgiveness plan and end the years-long moratorium on payments for existing student debt. Supporters of loan forgiveness have argued the high cost of college and the resulting debt is crushing younger Americans and redirecting money that would otherwise be circulating in the U.S. economy.