Biden mocks Republicans for accepting pandemic relief funds while opposing student loan forgiveness: 'My program is too expensive?'

• President Joe Biden tore into Republicans for opposing his student loan forgiveness plan.
• Biden renewed his suggestion that it's hypocritical for lawmakers to oppose his plan if their PPP loans were forgiven.

President Joe Biden on Friday criticized Republicans who opposed his roughly $400 billion student loan forgiveness program but gladly took federal pandemic relief funds in the wake of a Supreme Court decision that axed his current plan.

"We all supported the paycheck protection program, remember?" Biden told reporters in a brief statement from the White House. "It was a worthy program but let's be clear, some of the same Republicans, members of Congress, who strongly opposed giving relief to students got hundreds of thousands of dollars themselves in relief."

Biden and the White House have previously tweaked the GOP over what it sees as apparent hypocrisy. The fact that the president returned to the theme in the wake of Friday's Supreme Court decision underlines how Democrats may see political gains for pining the program's demise on more than just the Supreme Court.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the court's 6-3 decision that found the Biden administration did not have the proper authority under a 9/11-era law to propose roughly $400 billion in relief without explicit congressional approval. Roberts was joined by the court's other five conservatives in ruling against the White House in Biden v. Nebraska.

The Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP loans, are not directly analogous to student debt relief. The PPP loans were aimed at keeping business afloat during the pandemic by providing critical backstops to meet payroll and other limited needs.

This time, President Biden did not call out congressional Republicans by name but he did strongly hint at a few of them. He pointed out that some lawmakers "got over a million dollars."

Rep. Chuck Edwards, a North Carolina Republican who is serving his first term in office. Edwards had $1,133,907 in PPP loans and interest forgiven for an operating company for his McDonald's restaurants. Edwards, who praised Roberts' ruling, has previously dismissed criticism of his acceptance of PPP support.

"PPP loans benefited employees, it saved their jobs," he told the Asheville Citizen Times. "College loan forgiveness benefits one person and undermines the basic principles of personal responsibility." A spokesperson for Edwards did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Rep. Vern Buchanan, a Florida Republican, received even more money. The Sarasota Republican had over $2.7 million in forgiven PPP loans and interests for car dealerships connected to him. A spokesperson for Buchanan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

When news of one of the loans first became public, Buchanan said he would hope any small business would apply for the support.

"I would hope that small businesses in our area would apply to avoid laying off workers," he said in a statement to The Tampa Bay Times.

Rep. Kevin Hern, an Oklahoma Republican, received $1,082,302 in PPP loan and interest forgiveness for a restaurant management company. A spokesperson for the Oklahoman blasted Biden for suggesting there was something wrong with opposing student loan forgiveness in light of accepting PPP money.

"I see zero similarities between the two," Hern spokesperson Miranda Dabney said in a message to Insider. "If Biden can't tell the difference, that's his problem."

Biden also questioned how his plan could be considered so radical if PPP cost $800 billion.

"My program is too expensive?" he said. "The hypocrisy is stunning."