EXCLUSIVE — Conservative advocacy group Heritage Action, the advocacy arm of the Heritage Foundation, has launched a campaign opposing President Joe Biden‘s latest moves to cancel student loans.
The group launched a comment portal in April seeking input from the public on Biden’s plan to cancel or reduce student loan debt for as many as 30 million borrowers ahead of the 2024 general election.
“Americans are rightfully furious that Joe Biden is trying yet again to use their money to salvage his plummeting poll numbers,” Heritage Action Executive Vice President Ryan Walker said. “We are proud to stand with these taxpayers in demanding the Biden administration abandon plans to force all Americans to take on the debt of a select few.”
The group says it has already facilitated more than 10,000 comments about the proposal, all of which must be read and taken into consideration by the Biden administration before implementing the policy. The deadline to submit comments is May 17.
The Washington Examiner has reached out to the White House and the Department of Education seeking comment.
Biden launched his initial plan to cancel student loans, which he promised to do during the 2020 campaign, in August 2022. That plan would have canceled up to $20,000 per borrower at a total cost of at least $400 billion but was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court last June.
He has since launched a series of different programs, including more than $150 billion in smaller cancellation rounds and a move to drastically lower future repayments known as the Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE, Plan. Eighteen GOP-led states are now suing over SAVE, arguing it too is illegal because it was not approved by Congress.
Biden’s latest action, which has been in the works for almost a year, would affect roughly 70% of all loanees, according to the White House, of which a majority are black or Latino.
“Not only are black students more likely to take on student loans than their white peers, but they also end up holding nearly twice as much debt as their white peers four years after graduation,” the White House said in a release. “And Latino borrowers are also more likely to default on their student loans compared to white borrowers.”
The plan focuses on five categories of borrowers, including those who owe more than they did at the start of repayment, those eligible for forgiveness who have not applied, those who have been paying for at least 20 years, those enrolled in “low-financial-value programs,” and those experiencing “hardship paying back their loans.”
However, the regulation is subject to a public notice and comment period, which is where the Heritage portal comes in.
Heritage Foundation education lead Dr. Lindsey Burke described it as Biden’s “Plan C,” following the first plan, which was struck down in court, and the second one, which is being legally challenged. Burke’s biggest objection is that unpaid debts are transferred to the 87% of U.S. taxpayers who do not have student loans.
“The money doesn’t disappear — the taxpayer picks up the tab,” she said in an interview with the Washington Examiner. “This comment portal is critical because it actually forces the administration to hear from and to read through the concerns of the average American, who will have to bear the brunt of paying for this misguided policy.”
The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates the combined total cost of Biden’s student loan plans will range from $870 billion to $1.4 trillion dollars, which it says is more than all federal spending on higher education over the nation’s entire history.
The student loans issue is coming up again at Wednesday’s press briefing in light of widespread pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, with conservatives questioning why participants should have any loans canceled.
“I understand that President Biden, historically, has spoken very forcefully about antisemitism,” a reporter said. “But this week he’s not. He’s MIA. Is he that worried about losing the youth vote with these protesters?”
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Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said she cannot comment on election-related questions, but mentioned student loans as part of her answer.
“The president has taken a lot of policy actions here that he knows that young people care about,” she said. “A lot of those actions are popular with those young folks, whether it’s giving a little bit of breathing room with student debt relief — we made an announcement today, as a matter of fact. We are going to continue to do that because we think it’s important as families or as an American. If you’re coming out of college, you want to build a family, buy a home, you have the opportunity to do that and not be crushed by student debt.”
