Senate budget rules prevent Republican new repayment plans from being applied to current borrowers, lawmakers said.
GOP-led states are blocking Biden’s latest student debt relief plan
The save plan would have provided debt relief to more than 30 million Americans, as it promoted the most affordable student loan repayment plan to date.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans need to move forward with key tax, spending and policy bills without making any major changes to current student loan borrowers’ repayment plans, according to the Senate ruling.
The June 25 decision from Elizabeth McDonough, a key rule expert in the Senate, is another blow to the president and his GOP allies as they look for ways to accus fiscal conservatives who are concerned about voting for the measure if they don’t cut federal spending sufficiently.
Lawmakers are rushing to push the White House to pass Senate-wide bills this weekend, turning to the voluntary deadline of July 4th to sign the entire package to the president. At this point, it is unclear whether Trump and the Senate GOP leaders will be able to collect the necessary 50 votes from within their party, as they cannot rely on democratic support.
Republicans are trying to move across Trump’s entire legislative package based on Senate rules that allow a simple majority to approve the bill. However, for this to happen, all provisions within the law must have a direct impact on the federal budget.
Join MacDonough. He recently entered McDonough, who has not met that standard but has been considered a sweetener for votes in favor of measures in the Senate, including promoted changes to Medicaid, efforts to curb environmental rules, and efforts to limit federal judges’ powers.
The issue of federal student loans is a GOP proposal that reduces the number of repayment plans available to borrowers. Both the Republican-led House and Senate are working on a new framework that includes one standard plan, where borrowers will make fixed payments for 10 to 25 years based on loan amount and have another “repayment support plan” based on income.
According to a Democrat summary, the senator said only new borrowers could be limited to these two plans.
Major changes are still underway due to the federal student loan program. But the Congressional decision means they are more likely to affect new borrowers than the more than 40 million Americans who already have student loan debt.
It also means that around 8 million borrowers registered with SAVE (President Joe Biden’s signature student loan repayment plan) will remain in scope while the judge waits for a decision on the legality of the program.
In May, the independent Congressional Budget Office, estimated under the House bill, was estimated to have saved more than $160 billion a year by changing current student loan borrowers’ repayment terms.
Loan forgiveness changes. Others in review
Congress x several other provisions that could have a great significance for student loan borrowers and universities.
She has repealed measures that would be considered some non-US students who are not eligible for federal financial aid. She also eliminated the change that disqualifies doctors and dentists from a type of student loan relief. And she hit part of a bill intended to expand the Pell grant to a weekly career training program. If Republicans can get enough support from Democrats on these items, they can still pass the Senate 60-vote threshold.
MacDonough is still considering whether to push back some of the bill’s other measures, including provisions that make fraudulent borrowers or universities more difficult to secure borrowers, to cancel student debt.
Zachary Schermele is an education reporter for USA Today. You can contact him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @Zachschermele and follow Bluesky at @Zachschermele.bsky.social.
