Global Courant
President Biden on Wednesday vetoed the bill that would have scrapped his $400 billion student loan and vowed he would not “back down” when it came to canceling college’s multimillion-dollar debt across the country.
“People, Republicans in Congress have been pushing to pass a bill that blocked my administration’s plan to provide up to $10,000 in student debt forgiveness and up to $20,000 to borrowers who received a Pell Grant. Nearly 90 % of those aid dollars go to people who earn less.” than $75,000 a year,” Biden said in a video posted to Twitter.
“I’m not going to back down from my efforts to help tens of millions of working-class and middle-class families. That’s why I’m going to veto this bill,” he said.
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Amid his remarks against the Republicans, Biden made no mention of the two Democratic senators, Joe Manchin, DW.Va., and Jon Tester, D-Mont., who last week voted with all Republicans to advance the bill . Independent Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona also voted in favor, with a final score of 52-46.
Biden also made no mention of Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, and Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., who voted with Republicans for the bill in the House of Representatives. The final House vote count was 218-203.
The president went on to say that some of the members who voted for the bill had “personally received loans to keep their small businesses afloat during the pandemic” and supported “massive tax cuts for businesses and the wealthy.”
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President Joe Biden speaks before vetoing a bill to scrap his $400 billion student loan in the Oval Office on June 7, 2023. (White House)
“But when it comes to hard-working Americans trying to get ahead, paying off student debt, that’s where they drew the line. I think it’s wrong,” he said.
“Let me make something very clear, I will never apologize for helping working Americans and the middle class as they recover from this pandemic. Never,” he added before signing his veto on the bill.
Biden’s veto of the bill is his fifth veto since taking office.
Under the program announced last year, Biden said he would cancel up to $10,000 in student loans for those earning less than $125,000, and up to $20,000 for students receiving Pell Grants. That program was expected to cost the government more than $400 billion in lost debt service, but the program was suspended after a court blocked it.
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The US Capitol in Washington, DC (Fox News Photo/Joshua Comins)
The resolution approved by the House and Senate is written under the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to reject an executive branch policy as long as both the House and Senate pass a resolution disapproving of that policy.
Given the overwhelmingly partisan nature of votes in the House and Senate, it is unlikely that Congress will be able to find the two-thirds majority needed in each chamber to overturn Biden’s veto.
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Fox News’ Peter Kasperowicz contributed to this report.
Brandon Gillespie is an associate editor at Fox News. Follow him on Twitter at @brandon_cg.
