House Fails to Override Biden’s Veto of Legislation to Repeal Debt Cancellation Program
By Hugh T. Ferguson, NASFAA Managing Editor
The House on Wednesday was unable to override President Joe Biden’s veto of a resolution seeking to overturn his administration’s student loan forgiveness plan and immediately end the pause on federal student loan payments.
In order to overturn Biden’s veto the House needed a two-thirds majority vote, but was only able to garner a vote threshold of 221-206, which nearly mirrored the chamber’s first vote on the resolution.
While the congressional effort to overturn the program through the Congressional Review Act (CRA) has failed in the House, the fate of the administration’s debt cancellation plan is currently being considered by the United States Supreme Court.
The court is expected to issue a ruling concerning challenges to the program’s legality before the end of this month, as soon as this week.
In the coming weeks, the administration is expected to provide more details on its planned roll-out of the resumption of student loan repayments and interest accrual, which have remained frozen for the past three years.
Earlier this month, as a part of the debt ceiling agreement, Biden agreed to codify his administration’s planned resumption of student loan repayments — while also preventing another possible extension — by sunsetting the payment pause and interest accrual 60 days after June 30, 2023.
Publication Date: 6/23/2023
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