Millions of student-loan borrowers would be forced into 'abrupt and unplanned repayment' if Republicans' plan to overturn Biden's debt cancellation gets passed, 261 advocacy groups tell Congress

• The House could likely take a first vote this week on a bill that would overturn student-debt relief.
• 261 advocacy groups urged congressional leaders on Monday to ensure that doesn't happen.

Advocacy groups are warning lawmakers of the dire consequences overturning student-debt relief would have on millions of borrowers — ahead of a potential vote to do just that this week.

On Friday, a spokesperson for House education committee chair Virginia Foxx confirmed to Insider that the committee will be marking up — and likely voting on – a resolution to block President Joe Biden's student-loan forgiveness plans this week.

In March, GOP Senators Bill Cassidy, John Cornyn, and Joni Ernst, along with Rep. Bob Good in the House, introduced a bill to overturn Biden's plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt using the Congressional Review Act, an oversight tool Congress can use to overturn final rules put in place by government agencies. To date, 48 GOP Senators and 88 House Republicans have signed onto the resolution, which would also end the ongoing student-loan payment pause and block reforms to income-driven repayment plans and Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

On Monday, 261 advocacy groups led by the Student Borrower Protection Center sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries urging them to reject the GOP attempts to block relief for millions of Americans.

"If successful, these CRA efforts would immediately force tens of millions of borrowers into abrupt and unplanned repayment with devastating effects, including adding thousands of dollars of payments and interest onto their loan balances," the groups, including the NAACP and AFL-CIO, wrote.

"It will also force the Department of Education to unwind loans forgiven under Public Service Loan Forgiveness for first responders, nurses, educators, servicemembers, and hundreds of thousands of other public service workers across the country," they continued. "These actions are a clear attack on millions of the most vulnerable workers and families who are still reeling from the devastating impact of COVID-19."

They noted that many borrowers are relying on the payment pause — currently set to end 60 days after June 30 or 60 days after the Supreme Court issues a final decision on the legality of Biden's debt relief, whichever happens first — as they continue to experience financial strains caused by the pandemic. After Biden announced his relief in August, two conservative-backed lawsuits paused its implementation, and the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the cases in February.

While it's unclear at this point what the nation's highest court will ultimately decide, it's clear GOP lawmakers don't want to wait for that decision. Along with the CRA, McCarthy's bill to raise the debt ceiling — which passed the House two weeks ago — had spending cuts attached that included banning student-loan forgiveness. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona blasted the bill prior to its passage, saying in a statement at the time that McCarthy "declared that he will force a catastrophic default and plunge America into recession unless he can claw back school relief dollars and prevent millions of hardworking Americans – including over 83,000 borrowers in his own district – from getting the student debt relief they need coming out of the pandemic."

"It's a shame for students and working families across the country that Republican lawmakers, many of whom benefitted from hundreds of thousands of dollars in small business loan forgiveness, continue to fight hypocritically to deny critical student debt relief to millions of their own constituents," Cardona added, referring to loan forgiveness from the pandemic-era Paycheck Protection Program.

To be sure, the Democratic-controlled Senate and White House is highly likely to strike anything down that would block student-debt relief, but these latest efforts show where GOP priorities lie as borrowers await a Supreme Court decision.