Both of Utah’s Republican senators expressed their support Friday for the Supreme Court’s decision to cancel President Joe Biden’s student loan program.
In the court’s Biden v. Nebraska decision, the majority opinion, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, said Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona did not have the power to forgive student loans under the post-9/11 law used to justify the Biden administration’s program.
The HEROES Act gives Cardona some power to modify existing regulations, “but does not allow the Secretary to rewrite that statute to the extent of canceling $430 billion of student loan principal,” Roberts wrote.
In an official statement, Sen. Mike Lee said the decision is a “clear victory over executive overreach, affirming that President Biden’s student loan scheme was fundamentally unconstitutional.”
“The Supreme Court has lifted a 400 billion dollar burden off the shoulders of the hardworking Americans who diligently paid off their student loan obligations or decided to forego higher education,” he said.
In tweets from his @BasedMikeLee account, Lee compared Biden’s decision to forgive student loans to an episode of “The Office,” where Michael Scott had promised a classroom full of children — “Scott’s Tots” — that he’d pay their college tuition, but later ended up reneging on his promise.
“I can’t help but wonder how many people feel let down by @POTUS’s promise today,” Lee wrote. “Like Michael Scott, he promised to do something he never had the power to do.”
At a press conference Friday, Biden expressed his frustration with the court’s decision.
“I believe the court’s decision to strike down my student debt relief program was a mistake, was wrong,” he said.
When asked if he gave borrowers “false hope,” Biden said he didn’t.
“What I did, I thought was appropriate and was able to be done and would get done. I didn’t give borrowers false hope,” he said.
Sen. Mitt Romney expressed support for the court’s decision in a statement, and suggested Biden’s loan forgiveness program was an attempt to win voters.
“What was already an unfair play to induce voters has now been blocked as executive overreach. Instead of working toward real bipartisan solutions to lower higher education costs, the Biden Administration chose a partisan approach that — as the Supreme Court has ruled today — was outside the bounds of its authority and ultimately unsuccessful in supporting our students,” he said.