In a 52-46 vote on Thursday, the Senate passed a House resolution to overturn President Biden’s student debt bailout, however, the president is expected to veto the measure, the Associated Press reported.
Two Democrats, Senators Jon Tester of Montana and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, along with Arizona Independent Senator Kyrsten Sinema, voted with Republicans to pass the resolution that was approved in a 218 to 203 vote in the Republican-controlled House last week.
The president has pledged to keep his commitment to bail out up to $20,000 in federal student loan debt for 43 million borrowers, as the Supreme Court considers overturning the executive action.
In February, the Court heard oral arguments in a lawsuit challenging the president’s unilateral action. The decision is expected sometime in the coming weeks.
The Republican-led resolution would revoke the president’s student debt bailout while curtailing the ability of the Department of Education to attempt a bailout again in the future.
The measure would also rescind the president’s latest extension of the student loan payment pause that was first enacted by then-President Trump during the pandemic while retroactively adding several months of interest that was waived by the current extension.
The resolution also seeks to roll back the Public Service Loan Forgiveness bailout by reinstating the student loans of those who recently received a bailout through the program.
The resolution invoked the Congressional Review Act, a law that allows Congress to revoke recently-enacted executive actions and regulations. A resolution under the Congressional Review Act only requires a simple majority in both chambers.
However, if the president vetoes the measure, as Biden is expected to do, it will still require a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate to override the veto. It is unlikely that Republicans have enough support in either chamber to override the anticipated veto, ultimately leaving the decision in the hands of the Supreme Court.
