Conservatives piled onto the White House Friday over the possibility that President Joe Biden’s administration will extend student loan payments once again.
“Joe Biden wants to extend the student loan moratorium so no one—regardless of income or wealth—has to pay back a dollar in debt. Instead, the taxpayers pick up the tab,” tweeted Senator Tom Cotton. “This is a wealth transfer from the poor to the rich.”
The criticism follows a report that the Biden administration is considering extending the freeze placed on federal student loan payments before the freeze expires in early May, Politico reported.
“The president is going to look at what we should do on student debt before the pause expires, or he’ll extend the pause,” said White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain in a “Pod Save America” interview posted Thursday evening.
“Joe Biden right now is the only president in history where no one’s paid on their student loans for the entirety of his presidency,” the White House chief of staff added.
“Right now, people aren’t having to pay on their loans, and so I think dealing with the executive branch question — what we should do about that, what his powers are, how much we should do on that — that’s something we’re going to deal with later on.”
Biden plans to extend the freeze on student loan payments until after the Midterm elections (freeze will currently end in May).
The Dems chances are so bad, the only way to win is to continue the natl. emergency through Nov. in order to win over voters.https://t.co/x4T7HN3sV4
— Heritage Action (@Heritage_Action) March 4, 2022
Since Congress passed the CARES Act in March 2020, monthly payments and interests have been suspended on most federal student loans, Politico reports, and both the Trump administration and the Biden administration extended the relief through executive action.
“Biden plans to extend the freeze on student loan payments until after the Midterm elections (freeze will currently end in May),” Heritage Action tweeted. “The Dems chances are so bad, the only way to win is to continue the natl. emergency through Nov. in order to win over voters.”
“Biden using Ukraine as cover to push bad policy is outrageous,” added Republican communicator Matt Whitlock. “Forcing working families to foot the bill for the student loans of overwhelmingly upper-class students to get grad degrees is insane. There is no more COVID emergency to justify this.”
Biden using Ukraine as cover to push bad policy is outrageous.
Forcing working families to foot the bill for the student loans of overwhelmingly upper-class students to get grad degrees is insane.
There is no more COVID emergency to justify this.https://t.co/EFZrX9LnCO pic.twitter.com/2OhARVcg98
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) March 4, 2022
“Most people are ready to return to normalcy, but the pandemic has given Washington bureaucrats a chance to extend their reach,” wrote Ken Blackwell, former secretary of state and treasurer of Ohio, and who served as mayor of Cincinnati. “They won’t relinquish that power without a fight.”
“President Joe Biden’s decisions to extend emergency powers longer than needed — for example, with the eviction moratorium — serve as a perfect illustration of the federal government refusing to let individuals return to normal,” he continued. “Ultimately, the courts decided this moratorium was a gross overstep by the executive branch, but a similar scenario will be playing out as the deadline to extend the student loan moratorium approaches.”
Student loan moratorium exposes Biden's hypocrisy https://t.co/iabdhLUow4
— Steve Forbes (@SteveForbesCEO) March 4, 2022
“Crafting public policy based on political talking points never works,” Blackwell warned. “Instead of hypocritically pandering to his base, the president should end the student loan moratorium and actually live up to his campaign promise of being ‘a president for all Americans.’ Right now, this promise continues to ring hollow.”