Student Loan Cancellation Is An ‘Insult To The Majority Of Americans,’ Senator Says

This senator says that student loan cancellation is an “insult to the majority of Americans.”

Here’s what you need to know.

Student Loans

With President Joe Biden potentially weeks away from a major announcement on wide-scale student loan forgiveness, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) is attacking student loan cancellation for several reasons, including:

• unfair to Americans who didn’t attend college or who don’t have student loans;
• a “hand-out” to the wealthy and well-connected;
• a “get out of jail free card” for universities that charge unjustifiably high tuition and fees;
• will create higher inflation;
• forces working-class Americans to bail out college-educated Americans; and
• will potentially cost $1 trillion.

“I write to demand transparency regarding the Biden administration’s deliberations on canceling over $1.5 trillion in student loan debt,” Cotton wrote earlier this month to U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “…I’m firmly opposed to student debt cancellation…With such basic questions of justice and more than $1 trillion dollars at stake, Americans are entitled, at a minimum, to understand the legal justification for such an action.”

Student loan forgiveness: Cotton says White House has major conflict of interest on student loans

Cotton says the Biden White House has a major conflict of interest on student loans. A recent Bloomberg report found that at least 30 senior White House aides have student loan debt collectively totaling $4.7 million. “Every White House employee with student loans should be banned from working on Biden’s scheme to transfer student loan debt to the taxpayers,” Cotton tweeted on Tuesday. “It’s a clear conflict of interest.”

Cotton has also called student loan relief a “terrible idea.” He opposes extending student loan relief, although student loan cancellation could mean the end of student loan relief. Cotton, however, isn’t the only Republican to criticize Biden student loan forgiveness. For example, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), the leading Republican on the House Committee on Education and Labor, has called wide-scale student loan cancellation a mistake. There are at least two proposed bills in Congress that would prevent Biden from canceling student loans. Most recently, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) and colleagues introduced the Student Loan Accountability Act, which would prohibit the Biden administration from any wide-scale student loan cancellation for some or all student loan borrowers. Romney’s bill says that broad student loan forgiveness will increase inflation, primarily benefit wealthier student loan borrowers and encourage colleges and universities to increase tuition.

Will your student loans get canceled?

Will your student loans get canceled? Biden has said he will announce his decision on wide-scale student loan cancellation within weeks, which could mean any day now. That said, there is no guarantee that Biden will enact broad student loan forgiveness. However, while Republicans will continue to pressure Biden, Congress is unlikely to pass legislation that would prevent Biden from canceling student loans. If Biden proceeds to enact student loan cancellation, expect potential income limits, which could restrict student loan forgiveness for potentially millions of student loan borrowers. With student loan payments scheduled to restart soon, make sure you know all your options for student loan repayment. Here are some popular ways to crush student loan debt:

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