Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) spoke out in opposition to President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, referring to it as excessive.
Manchin shared his concerns with reporters on Tuesday, according to a report by The Hill.
“I just thought that it was excessive. I just respectfully disagree on that,” Manchin said.
“I think there’s other ways. When people were calling me from back in West Virginia, I would give them all the options they had that would reduce their loan by going to work in the federal government,” he added.
Biden announced last month that he would cancel up to $10,000 in federal student loan debt for certain borrowers making less than $125,000 per year.
The new forgiveness plan could cost taxpayers $500 billion, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
The committee stated that the new loan forgiveness effort “will cost between $440 billion and $600 billion over the next ten years, with a central estimate of roughly $500 billion. Combined with today’s announcement, the federal government’s actions on student loans since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic have cost roughly $800 billion.”
Most of the student loan amount has been due to changes under Biden.
“Of that amount, roughly $750 billion is due to executive action and regulatory changes made by the Biden Administration,” the report added.
The Daily Wire previously reported that according to the Wharton School, the plan would cost far more than the White House’s $300 billion price tag, estimating the total impact could be $1 trillion.
Biden’s “debt cancellation alone will cost up to $519 billion, with about 75% of the benefit accruing to households making $88,000 or less,” Wharton announced in the study.
The forgiveness plan could also lead to the negative consequence of some students taking out more student loans, causing further problems for the economy, according to the report.
Manchin is not the only Democrat opposing Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan. Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH) also recently released a statement rejecting any student loan forgiveness plan that does not go through the legislative process.
“We all know the cost of higher education is crushing families … but this announcement by President Biden is no way to make policy and sidesteps Congress and our oversight and fiscal responsibilities,” Pappas said. “Any plan to address student debt should go through the legislative process, and it should be more targeted and paid for so it doesn’t add to the deficit.”
Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) has also spoken out against the student loan forgiveness plan. He said in a statement that the move “sends the wrong message to the millions of Ohioans without a degree working just as hard to make ends meet.”