‘No matter how many Republican elected officials try to stop us’
Under the Biden-Harris administration, the U.S. Department of Education recently emailed a memo to millions of student loan debt holders denouncing Republicans as the department works toward implementing additional forgiveness programs despite court rulings against it.
In mid-July, a two-page memo from the federal student aid office pledged to fight Republicans to install the latest Biden-Harris loan forgiveness plan.
“In recent weeks, several federal courts have issued rulings in lawsuits brought by Republican elected officials who are siding with special interests and trying to block Americans from accessing all the benefits of the most affordable student loan repayment plan — the SAVE (Saving on a Valuable Education) Plan,” the memo stated.
“…Let me be clear: President Biden and I are determined to lower costs for student loan borrowers, to make repaying student debt affordable and realistic, and to build on our separate efforts that have already provided relief to 4.75 million Americans – no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stop us,” stated the memo, signed by Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.
The email concluded by stating: “While we disagree with the Republican elected officials’ efforts here to side with special interests and block borrowers from getting breathing room on their student loans, President Biden and our Administration will not stop fighting to make sure Americans have affordable access to the life-changing opportunities a higher education can provide.”
The memo sparked some controversy, as one commenter on X observed: “The US Department of Education just sent out an official email to all student loan borrowers attacking Republicans and advocating for Biden.” The post received over 535,000 views.
A Department of Education spokesperson provided a copy of the SAVE memo to The College Fix, but declined to comment regarding concerns the mid-July email was overly partisan.
The US Department of Education just sent out an official email to all student loan borrowers attacking Republicans and advocating for Biden pic.twitter.com/VqA3TOlP4B
— Sunny (@sunnyright) July 14, 2024
On July 18, the 8th Circuit Court blocked the SAVE plan entirely.
The appeals court “sided in favor of a lawsuit led by Missouri’s attorney general and five other Republican-led states, which argued the department lacks the authority to carry out the SAVE program. This decision from the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals fully blocks the SAVE program for an unclear length of time,” the National Association of Student and Financial Aid Administrators reported.
The plan seeks to lower the cost of repaying student loan debt for borrowers.
“The borrowers who could be eligible for the relief if approved are those who owe more money now than when they started paying on their loans, borrowers caught in repayment for decades, those who are eligible for loan forgiveness and haven’t applied and those who enrolled in low financial value programs,” The Hill reported.
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