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By: The opinion
The legislators of the House of Representatives failed to undo the president’s veto Joe Biden to Republican-led legislation that would have struck down his plan to write off up to $20,000 of the student debt of tens of millions of Americans.
The override attempt lost by a vote of 221-206, well below the two-thirds majority required to overcome a presidential veto, according to Politico.
The result was expected as Congress passed the resolution that struck down student debt relief earlier this month by a narrow margin, largely along partisan lines. A handful of moderate Democrats joined Republicans in approving the measure, but came nowhere close to creating a presidential veto-proof majority.
Biden vetoed the legislation two weeks ago, defending the debt cancellation program as vital assistance for working and middle-class families.
Republican critics argue that the $400 billion plan is too costly for taxpayers and unfair to Americans who didn’t go to college or have already paid off their student loans.
With Wednesday’s vote, the GOP legislative effort to kill the plan under the Congressional Review Act is over.
Pending in the Supreme Court
But Biden’s program remains in limbo on the Supreme Court.
Judges are preparing to rule, possibly as early as Thursday, on whether to allow the Biden administration to proceed with the cancellation of student debt. Republican state attorneys general and a conservative group are suing to stop the program, arguing it is an illegal abuse of executive power.
The vetoed resolution would also have repealed the freeze on student loan interest payments. But Congress separately, as part of the bipartisan agreement to raise the debt ceiling, passed a law ending the payment pause in the coming months.
Interest payments on federal student loans are scheduled to resume on September 1 and the Department of Education is preparing to begin collecting monthly payments from borrowers in October.
Keep reading:
– Biden vetoed a bill that would revoke his student debt cancellation plan
– Biden administration remains optimistic about student loan forgiveness, despite discouragement from the Supreme Court
– Conservative Supreme Court justices express doubts about forgiveness of student debt