Ahead of what would have been the first day of the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan lowering repayments for student loan borrowers, DNC National Press Secretary Emilia Rowland released the following statement: 

“President Biden is doing everything he can to relieve student loan debt for hardworking Americans despite attacks from MAGA extremists, and if it weren’t for Donald Trump’s Supreme Court justices striking down President Biden’s historic student loan debt relief plan, millions more could have benefitted. MAGA Republicans’ hypocrisy knows no bounds — like Reps. Majorie Taylor Greene and Roger Williams who rail against student loan forgiveness for their own constituents when they’ve had hundreds of thousands of dollars of Paycheck Protection Program loans forgiven. The stark contrast between these two economic agendas couldn’t be clearer: President Biden wants to bring relief for as many Americans with student loan debt as possible, and Trump only wants to serve himself and his billionaire buddies.”

President Biden continues to work tirelessly to fulfill his promise of bringing relief to as many borrowers as possible — and he has already reduced and canceled more student loan debt than any other president in history.

CNN: “About 4 million people have seen their federal student debt canceled under Biden, totaling about $144 billion.”

The Guardian: “Biden launches ‘most affordable ever’ student loan repayment plan”

Associated Press: “Biden’s new payment plan, known as the SAVE Plan, offers a faster path to forgiveness than earlier versions. More people are now becoming eligible for loan cancellation as they hit 10 years of payments, a new finish line that’s a decade sooner than what borrowers faced in the past.”

CNBC: “Including Wednesday’s round of relief, the Biden administration has so far excused the debt of 4.75 million borrowers, totaling $167 billion in aid. Much of that total comes from expanding the reach of and making fixes to these programs. Historically, borrowers found these aid options were hard if not impossible to navigate, and many complained they weren’t receiving the relief to which they were entitled, consumer advocates say.”

White House Fact Sheet: “President Biden will announce plans that, if finalized as proposed, would cancel up to $20,000 of the amount a borrower’s balance has grown due to unpaid interest on their loans after entering repayment, regardless of their income.”

MAGA Republican-led legal efforts, supported by Trump, led to the halt of the Biden-Harris administration’s historic student loan debt relief, the SAVE plan, for 4.75 million Americans.  

Politico: “Courts block part of Biden’s student loan repayment relief for millions”

Associated Press: “More Republican states sue to block Biden’s student loan repayment plan”

“Another group of Republican-led states is suing to block the Biden administration’s new student loan repayment plan, which offers a faster path to cancellation and has already been used to forgive loans for more than 150,000 borrowers.

“Seven states led by Missouri filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday challenging Biden’s SAVE Plan, which has become a new legal target for conservative opponents after the Supreme Court toppled the Democratic president’s first attempt at student loan cancellation.”

Associated Press: “Republican states file lawsuit challenging Biden’s student loan repayment plan”

“In a federal lawsuit filed Thursday, 11 states led by Kansas argue that Biden overstepped his authority in creating the SAVE Plan, which was made available to borrowers last year and has already canceled loans for more than 150,000. […]

“They argue the plan will inject hundreds of billions of dollars in loan relief into the U.S. economy, which would require states to increase fraud protection efforts. The plan ‘will create enormous opportunities for fraudsters to exploit student debt borrowers that would not otherwise exist,’ according to the suit.”

NPR: “Supreme Court kills Biden’s student debt plan in a setback for millions of borrowers”

Several of Trump’s MAGA minions in Congress reject student debt forgiveness for their constituents but have reaped the benefits of loan forgiveness in the past. They are listed below:

*Rep. Buchanan was in the top 5 wealthiest members of Congress with a net worth of $73.9 million. 

**Rep. Kelly was in the top 40 wealthiest members of Congress with a net worth of $10.4 million.

***Rep. Norman was in the top 20 wealthiest members of Congress with a net worth of $18.3 million.

****Rep. Williams was in the top 15 wealthiest members of Congress with a net worth of $27.7 million.

*****Rep. Mullin was in the top 70 wealthiest members of Congress with a net worth of $3.7 million.

President Biden’s SAVE Plan would have made paying student loans more feasible for more than 7.7 million enrolled borrowers.

White House Fact Sheet: “The Biden-⁠Harris Administration Launches the SAVE Plan, the Most Affordable Student Loan Repayment Plan Ever to Lower Monthly Payments for Millions of Borrowers”

“The SAVE plan is an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan that calculates payments based on a borrower’s income and family size – not their loan balance – and forgives remaining balances after a certain number of years. The SAVE plan will cut many borrowers’ monthly payments to zero, will save other borrowers around $1,000 per year, will prevent balances from growing because of unpaid interest, and will get more borrowers closer to forgiveness faster. The SAVE plan builds on the actions the Biden-Harris Administration has already taken to support students and borrowers, including cancelling more than $116 billion in student loan debt for 3.4 million Americans.”

Associated Press: “More than 7.5 million student loan borrowers have enrolled in the U.S. government’s newest repayment plan since it launched in August. […]

“How is the SAVE Plan different?

“More borrowers in the SAVE plan are eligible for $0 payments. This plan won’t require borrowers to make payments if they earn less than 225% of the federal poverty line — $32,800 a year for a single person. The cutoff for other plans, by contrast, is 150% of the poverty line, or $22,000 a year for a single person.

“Also, the SAVE plan prevents interest from piling up. As long as borrowers make their monthly payments, their overall balance won’t increase. Once they cover their adjusted monthly payment — even if it’s $0 — any remaining interest is waived.”

CNN: “Millions of borrowers will see their monthly student loan payments reduced starting in July, thanks to one of the Biden administration’s biggest changes to the federal student loan system to date.”

Meanwhile, Donald Trump continues to rail against student loan forgiveness, and his hand-picked Supreme Court justices struck down debt relief that could have changed the lives of 40 million Americans. 

CEPR: “On student debt relief, [Project 2025’s] Mandate for Leadership proposals would roll back much of what the Biden administration accomplished for student borrowers and loan-burdened public servants. Indeed, their ideal wish is that ‘there should be no loan forgiveness.’

“If the first Trump administration was any indication, a second would work to eliminate the federal tools that could help student borrowers instead of addressing the student debt crisis.”

NBC News: “Trump also attempted to cut billions from the department’s budget that would have ended subsidized student loans and the public service loan forgiveness program.”

CNBC: “Former President Donald Trump has a long record of opposing debt cancellation. Trump also sided with the Supreme Court in its ruling striking down Biden’s plan.”

Trump Campaign Press Release: “Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down massive wins for the American people— halting Joe Biden’s unconstitutional student loan gimmick, restoring fairness to the college admissions process, and applying the strongest safeguards to First Amendment rights in a generation. One thing is clear: these wins were only made possible through President Trump’s strong nomination of three distinguished and courageous jurists to the Supreme Court.”

Associated Press: “Education advocates say President Donald Trump’s budget contradicts his campaign pledge to make college more affordable with its proposed elimination of subsidized student loans and cuts in other programs that help students pay tuition. … When he accepted the Republican presidential nomination last year, Trump had said, ‘We’re going to work with all of our students who are drowning in debt to take the pressure off these people just starting out in their adult lives. Tremendous problem.’”

Trump and MAGA Republicans’ attacks on student loan debt forgiveness are in line with the Project 2025 playbook.

Center for American Progress: “Project 2025 proposes phasing out existing income-driven repayment (IDR) plans for student loan borrowers, such as the Biden-Harris administration’s new Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan, and replacing it with a one-size-fits-all IDR plan. […]

“One in 3 borrowers ages 25 to 49 rely upon an [Income Driven Repayment] IDR plan to afford their student loan payments and would see their repayment plan options severely restricted if the Project 2025 proposal were adopted. This far-right vision for student loan repayment would fail to provide affordable repayment options to those who are most likely to struggle with their loans and experience default. […]

“Instead of alleviating the burden imposed by student loans, Project 2025 would make monthly loan payments a financial anchor for millions, push more borrowers into default, and force others to pay in perpetuity.”