WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) released the following statement after voting in favor of S.J.Res.43, a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval of the U.S. Department of Education’s final rule, which overhauled Income Driven Repayment (IDR) plans for student loan borrowers. Upon implementation, this rule will be the administration’s most expensive student loan repayment plan to date.
The resolution, introduced by U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), failed the Senate by a vote of 49 to 50.
“The Biden administration was undeterred after its Supreme Court student loan forgiveness loss, so it concocted unlawful changes to the loan repayment program without the legal authority do so. Instead of reserving the program for borrowers who actually struggle to repay their loans, it opened the floodgates to effectively guarantee no borrower will ever fully repay their loans. Today’s vote was a vote to put an end to this backdoor loan forgiveness nonsense and to send a clear signal that responsible borrowing matters.”
On July 3, 2023, the Department of Education published this rule, which has already led to nearly $50 billion in loan forgiveness. The Department estimates this rule will cost $156 billion over the next 10 years, an increase from their $137 billion estimate in the proposed rule. The plan significantly reduces the amount students have to repay the federal government by 40%.
In September, Senator Cramer joined Senator Cassidy as a cosponsor of S.J.Res.43. Additionally, he issued a statement after voting for a CRA resolution to overturn the Biden administration’s unconstitutional loan forgiveness plan.