At least one U.S. senator is warning President Joe Biden that any new effort to cancel student loan debt must pass Congress.
The Supreme Court on Friday blocked Biden's plan to cancel $430 billion in student loan debt.
"It [Biden's plan] was a cheap political ploy during election season by Joe Biden that's now been completely exposed," said Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., Daily Mail.com reported. "From a legal perspective, there's just no authority at all, in statute or otherwise, that gave Joe Biden the ability to write off a half a trillion dollars worth of student loan debt with a stroke of a pen."
Schmitt, as then-Missouri attorney general, filed suit with six other attorneys general arguing Biden's student loan forgiveness would cause "irreparable harm" to student loan agencies.
After the Supreme Court's ruling, Biden said his administration will pursue student loan relief through the Higher Education Act of 1965, which contains a provision that gives the secretary of education the authority to "compromise, waive, or release any right, title, claim, lien, or demand, however acquired, including any equity or any right of redemption," The New York Times reported.
The Education Department has proposed an overhaul of income-driven repayment that would cost $250 billion instead of the debt forgiveness' $430 billion.
Biden's new plan likely would face a lawsuit similar to the one that reached the high court.
"I think it's a pretty radical position to take and not popular with people," Schmitt said of student loan debt relief.
Schmitt added that lawmakers need to make higher education "attainable" for the working class by holding colleges accountable for escalating tuition costs.
"I do think that we ought to be thoughtful about what we do to make the American dream realized for working class folks," Schmitt said, Daily Mail.com reported. "That's my background, right? I didn't grow up — nobody in my family had gone to college right out of high school. I certainly didn't know any lawyers growing up.
"Education was the pathway for me and so many people who grew up in working class families to achieve things so I think we have to keep that attainable. I think we've got to hold higher education accountable for that."
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