- The Supreme Court ruled on Friday to strike down President Joe Biden's student-loan-forgiveness plan.
- Republicans, who had said the plan was unfair and unconstitutional, immediately celebrated.
In a rush of consequential decisions, the Supreme Court on Friday ruled to strike down President Joe Biden's plan to give student loan borrowers up to $20,000 in relief. Republican lawmakers — many of whom had been outspoken critics of the plan — were happy to see it.
Senator Bill Cassidy, the ranking GOP member on the Senate's Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, said in a statement that the ruling "confirmed what we have known all along: the Biden administration's student loan plan is an overreach of executive power."
"This is an obvious but welcomed ruling," Cassidy added. "President Biden's student loan scheme does not 'forgive' debt, but unfairly transfers the burden from those who willingly took out loans onto those who chose not to attend college or already fulfilled their commitment to pay off their loans."
The decision came in two separate rulings. The high court ruled that the plaintiffs in one case, US Department of Education v. Brown, did not have standing. But the second case, Biden v. Nebraska, prevailed and the six GOP-led states had standing to sue on behalf of student-loan company, MOHELA.
Rep. Virginia Foxx, the GOP chair of the Education and Workforce Committee and an outspoken opponent of Biden's plan, wished "good riddance" to Biden's "illegal, economically disastrous taxpayer-funded bailout for the wealthy."
"I had hoped you would have greater respect for taxpayers and the Constitution, but I am pleased the Court stepped in to hold you accountable," Foxx said in a statement addressed to Biden.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy touted that the relief was "UNLAWFUL," and referenced former Speaker Nancy Pelosi's remarks that the president does not have the power to forgive debt. "I agree with her for once!" McCarthy wrote on Twitter.
Other Republicans took aim at the plan's constitutionality and claims that the relief was unfair, talking points that the GOP seized upon after Biden first introduced the plan.
"The American people know that the Biden Administration's student loan socialism plan would be a raw deal for hardworking taxpayers," said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky in a statement. "Now that the Supreme Court has rejected the Administration's position in Biden v. Nebraska, they can know that it's illegal."
"Hard-working Americans will not be burdened with increased taxes to pay the bills for those who willingly took on—and have yet to pay off—debt," Rep. August Pfluger, a Republican from Texas, wrote on Twitter.
Senator Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, wrote on Twitter that the loan forgiveness plan was "an unconstitutional power grab" that is "wildly unfair to millions of families who choose to make personal sacrifices to avoid debt." And Senator John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota who serves as minority whip, said in a statement that Biden had put forward an "unserious scheme" to have non-debt-holders subsidize relief.
"Anyone frustrated by today's decision should direct their complaints to the White House, where they knew this executive order would likely be struck down by the courts but did nothing whatsoever to meaningfully address exorbitant costs in higher education," Thune said.
Senator Eric Schmitt, a Republican from Missouri, said in a statement that the "bailout was completely unfair to those who saved up and paid off their loans or those who didn't take out loans."
"The truck driver and the waitress shouldn't have to subsidize the theater degree of the tenured professor," Schmitt said.