Congress Can Block Student Loan Cancellation—Forever
Specifically, Congress could block the Education Department from issuing new regulations or executive actions related to the student loan program that increase costs to taxpayers. Had it been in effect during the last four years, such a law would have killed all of President Biden’s attempts at loan cancellation in the cradle.
During the last Congress, Representative Glenn Grothman (R-WI) introduced a simple bill to do exactly that. The four-page Protecting Taxpayers From Student Loan Bailouts Actwould have barred the Secretary of Education from issuing “economically significant” regulations or executive actions (those with a $100 million or greater annual impact on the economy) that increase the costs of the federal student loan program. Minor regulations, or regulations which don’t increase the costs of student loans, would still be allowed.
Even though President-elect Trump is weeks from inauguration, and is unlikely to cancel student loans on a large scale, Congress might still consider taking action to block future administrations from forgiving debts. After all, the next Democratic president may decide to finish what President Biden started.
