The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

Biden vetoes GOP-led effort to strike down student loan forgiveness program

June 7, 2023 at 7:36 p.m. EDT
Student loan borrowers stage a sit-in last month at the Capitol Hill office of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to urge him to stop trying to block student debt cancellation. (Jemal Countless/Getty Images)
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President Biden on Wednesday vetoed a Republican-led resolution that would have struck down his controversial plan to forgive more than $400 billion in student loans.

In a statement on Wednesday, the president said the resolution — which the Senate approved on a 52-46 vote Thursday under the Congressional Review Act, a week after the House passed the measure — would have kept millions of Americans from receiving “the essential relief they need as they recover from the economic strains associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.” The resolution called for a restart of loan payments for millions of borrowers that have been on pause since early in the coronavirus pandemic. It also would have prevented the Education Department from pursuing similar policies in the future.