The Senate just passed a bill to block student-loan forgiveness and immediately end the payment pause

• The Senate just passed a bill to overturn student-debt relief and end the payment pause.
• The House passed the bill last week with bipartisan support.

Both chambers of Congress have officially passed a bill to overturn President Joe Biden's student-debt cancellation and throw borrowers back into repayment immediately.

On Thursday, the Senate passed a bill — first introduced in March — to overturn Biden's plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for federal borrowers making under $125,000 a year by a vote of 52-46. Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Jon Tester, and Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, joined Republicans in passing the measure. It would also immediately end the student-loan payment pause, which is currently set to expire 60 days after June 30 or 60 days after the Supreme Court issues a final decision on the legality of Biden's broad debt-relief, whichever happens first.

The House passed the legislation last week by a vote of 218-203, with two Democratic lawmakers joining Republicans in voting in favor of the bill.

On Tuesday, GOP Sens. Chuck Grassley and Bill Cassidy — sponsors of the bill — wrote an opinion piece in Fox News urging their colleagues in the Senate to pass the legislation to overturn student-loan forgiveness.

"What about the man who skipped college but is paying off the loan on his work truck, or the woman who worked her way through school and is now struggling to pay off her mortgage under Biden's economy? Instead of debt relief, this administration will force them to pick up the bill. It is unfair that President Biden would punish them because their debts simply look different from those of his preferred class," the lawmakers wrote.

"This is about fairness," they added. "We hope all of our colleagues will join us to pass this CRA resolution and stand up for the families who will receive none of the benefit but will have to pay the bill for these irresponsible, unfair policies."

Before the vote, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote on Twitter that "the Senate GOP is pushing a terrible measure to end the pause on student loan payments and overturn @POTUS's student loan cancellation program. It would repeal the pause, force retroactive payments, and jeopardize public service employee eligibility for the PSLF program."

The legislation was introduced using the Congressional Review Act, which is a fast-track tool Congress can use to overturn final rules put in place by federal agencies. Some advocates and Democrats have even said that, given the language in the CRA statute, the bill would reinstate payments made during the student-loan payment pause.

After the House passed the bill, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote on Twitter that "House Republicans just voted to throw 260K public servants back into debt & force 36 million Americans to immediately pay back months of paused student loans. They would rather give tax breaks to giant corporations than help families crushed by debt. I'll continue to fight this."

The bill now heads to Biden's desk, and he already said he will veto the measure.

"I understand that some of my colleagues are intent on overturning President Biden's signature policies — no matter the cost or the consequences," New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez said in remarks prior to the vote. "But to overturn his landmark student debt relief program just to score political points? To force borrowers to pay back their loans — with interest — and stick it to the administration? Well that to me is just cruelty for the sake of cruelty."