The White House on Thursday called out Republican members of Congress who have criticized President Joe Biden's student-loan-forgiveness plan despite having some of their own pandemic-related loans forgiven.
Biden on Wednesday announced plans to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for Pell Grant recipients, and up to $10,000 in student debt for federal borrowers who make less than $125,000 a year. Coupled with this announcement was the fifth extension of the student-loan payment pause through December 31, and he noted it will be the "final" extension — meaning borrowers should prepare to resume payments come January.
While many Democratic lawmakers lauded the relief and vowed to continue pushing for even more forgiveness down the road, Republicans were quick to slam the debt cancellation, calling it unfair to other borrowers and taxpayers. For example, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday called the relief "astonishingly unfair."
"President Biden's student loan socialism is a slap in the face to every family who sacrificed to save for college, every graduate who paid their debt, and every American who chose a certain career path or volunteered to serve in our Armed Forces in order to avoid taking on debt," he said.
But some of the most vocal Republican critics of Biden's student-debt relief are those who have gotten other loans forgiven themselves. A thread on Thursday posted by the official White House Twitter account named six Republican lawmakers who had Paycheck Protection Program loans forgiven that had spoken out against cancelling student debt.
Representatives for each lawmaker did not respond to Insider's requests for comment.
PPP loans were part of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act, which was signed into law at the end of March 2020. The loans were meant to help businesses as the country locked down to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Per the Small Business Administration, which administered the loans, "Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) borrowers may be eligible for loan forgiveness if the funds were used for eligible payroll costs, payments on business mortgage interest payments, rent, or utilities during either the 8- or 24-week period after disbursement."
Here are the lawmakers the White House called out.