Hinds Today

On May 21, 2024, U.S. Senators Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), along with U.S. Representatives Trent Kelly (R-Miss.), Michael Guest (R-Miss.), and Mike Ezell (R-Miss.), voiced their opposition to the Biden administration’s latest proposal to transfer student loan debt to American taxpayers.

The Mississippi lawmakers are among 39 Senators and 90 House Members who signed a letter urging the withdrawal of the U.S. Department of Education’s proposed student loan transfer rule. This rule is projected to cost an additional $147 billion, potentially bringing the total student loan debt transferred to taxpayers up to $1 trillion.

“The latest Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) proposed by your Department of Education on April 17, 2024, represents the latest in a string of reckless attempts to transfer as much as $1 trillion of student loan debt from those who willingly borrowed to those who did not or have already repaid their loans. We strongly urge you to withdraw it,” wrote the lawmakers.

They further criticized the administration for what they termed as using borrowers as "political pawns," stating that these actions were illegal based on a Supreme Court ruling last June which deemed "Plan A" unconstitutional.

The letter also highlighted delays in implementing the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) program, which prevents students and families from accessing essential financial aid information.

“Instead of exacerbating the problems of inflated college costs and low-value degrees, we urge you to withdraw this NPRM and work with Congress. It is past time that we fix our nation’s broken higher education financing system,” concluded the lawmakers.

U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, and U.S. Representative Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), chairwoman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, spearheaded this initiative.