In an attempt to buy votes ahead of the 2024 election, President Biden doubled down on his pledge to bail out student loan borrowers on Wednesday, despite the U.S. Supreme Court deeming the policy unconstitutional.
“My MAGA Republican friends in the Congress, elected officials, and special interests stepped in and sued us, and the Supreme Court blocked it. But that didn’t stop me,” the president grumbled during a press conference, bragging about his bid to sidestep SCOTUS.
Biden’s plan aims to “cancel” $1.2 billion in student loan debt for 153,000 borrowers “currently enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) repayment plan,” according to the White House. These figures come in addition to the 74,000 loans, totaling $5 billion, Biden “forgave” last month. Of course, when Biden and his administration say they’re “canceling” or “forgiving” student loan debt, what they’re actually doing is transferring debt agreed to by individuals who attended university and transferring it to U.S. taxpayers who chose not to pursue a college degree or have already repaid their loans.
The White House’s attempt to use the SAVE plan to bail out student loan borrowers comes nearly a year after SCOTUS declared the administration’s prior debt cancelation policy unconstitutional. The Education Department previously tried to rationalize its absurd bailout program by citing the HEROES Act, which permits the executive to waive loans when “necessary in connection with a war or other military operation or national emergency.”
While intended for U.S. military service members in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the agency outlandishly claimed the “COVID-19 pandemic” fulfilled the HEROES Act’s definition of a national emergency, despite Biden himself declaring the pandemic to be “over” during a “60 Minutes” interview in the weeks after the program was announced.
But SCOTUS wasn’t buying what the administration was selling. Ruling in a 6-3 decision that the policy is illegal, the Court said the Biden administration does not have the authority to unilaterally waive such loans without congressional authorization. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts declared that “‘[n]o regulation premised on’ the HEROES Act ‘has even begun to approach the size or scope’ of the [Education] Secretary’s program” and the White House’s plan is “staggering by any measure.”
Much like the program struck down by SCOTUS, Biden’s new student loan bailouts were not approved by Congress. Missouri GOP Sen. Eric Schmitt blasted the president’s Wednesday announcement, saying it’s “just another example of Imperial Biden doing whatever the hell he wants no matter what the law says.”
“The Biden Admission is totally out of control and lawless. There is nothing they won’t do to maintain power,” Schmitt wrote on X. “Illegal act after illegal act. That’s your real Threat to Democracy™.”
Prior to joining the Senate, Schmitt served as Missouri’s attorney general and co-filed the lawsuit responsible for Biden’s initial student loan bailout being declared unlawful by SCOTUS.
Biden Buys Votes
While Biden’s flouting of separation of powers is neither new nor surprising, his move unveils a desperate attempt to use taxpayer resources to sway the 2024 election in his favor.
Prior to the president’s speech, Politico ran a story on Wednesday previewing the $1.2 billion bailout plan. The article specifically highlighted how the White House plans to send emails to the 153,000 borrowers impacted by the policy in order to, as Politico described, “make sure they know whom to thank for it.”
“But a challenge for the Biden reelection campaign and Democratic allies is making sure that the president gets credit for canceling that debt — even as the White House explores ways to further increase the number of Americans receiving loan relief,” the story reads.
A draft copy of the email crafted by the administration and obtained by Politico blares the headline, “A Message From President Biden,” and reads: “Congratulations—all or a portion of your federal student loans will be forgiven because you qualify for early loan forgiveness under my Administration’s SAVE Plan.” The Education Department has included Biden’s signature in prior messages sent to borrowers regarding “rounds of debt relief,” according to the outlet.
It doesn’t require a college degree to figure out what the White House is doing. With Biden’s popularity among young voters in the toilet — partly because they think his anti-Israel policies aren’t antagonistic enough — the president’s handlers are looking for ways to juice enthusiasm within a demographic key to Democrats’ electoral success. And what better way to accomplish this goal than to use taxpayer dollars to effectively bribe young voters into voting for Biden?
Since Biden took office, his administration has made registering and turning out America’s youth, particularly college students, a major facet of Democrats’ election strategy. The Education Department, for example, had American universities use taxpayer-funded Federal Work Study programs to pay college students to engage in voter registration campaigns for the benefit of Democrats in the months leading up to the 2022 midterms. This effort coincided with left-wing nonprofits’ nationwide bid to register college students to vote on campuses throughout the country.
Despite its attempt to cast the newest round of student loan bailout as an act of compassion, the Biden administration can’t obscure what the policy truly is: a pay-for-play scheme designed to boost Biden’s reelection prospects.
