Senator Joe Manchin (D., W. Va.) on Tuesday voiced criticism of President Biden’s recent executive order “forgiving” up to $10,000 of federal student-loan debt for Americans making less than $125,000 a year and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients.
“I just thought that it was excessive. I just respectfully disagree on that,” Manchin told reporters.
“I think there’s other ways. When people were calling me from back in West Virginia, I would give them all the options they had that would reduce their loan by going to work in the federal government,” said Manchin, who has proven an influential figure in the evenly divided Senate.
Asked if the amount Biden chose to “cancel” was too much, Manchin replied: “I just thought there was a better way to do it. You have to earn it. You have to earn it.”
Biden’s order is expected to cost $300 billion, according to an estimate by the Wharton School of business at the University of Pennsylvania.
Several other moderate Democrats have been critical of the president’s order as well.
Representative Jared Golden of Maine called the order “out of touch with what the majority of the American people want from the White House, which is leadership to address the most immediate challenges the country is facing.”
Representative Tim Ryan, who is running for Senate in Ohio against J. D. Vance, warned the move could alienate Ohioans without a degree.
“While there’s no doubt that a college education should be about opening opportunities, waiving debt for those already on a trajectory to financial security sends the wrong message to the millions of Ohioans without a degree working just as hard to make ends meet,” Ryan said.
Senator Michael Bennet, who is running for reelection in Colorado, said the administration should have proposed a way to pay for the plan and further targeted the relief toward borrowers who are in greater need.
“While immediate relief to families is important, one-time debt cancellation does not solve the underlying problem,” he said.
However, Bennet’s statement seems to tone down his earlier criticism from June that there “was no reason to” cancel student-loan debt without reform.
Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada said she doesn’t agree with the move “because it doesn’t address the root problems that make college unaffordable.”
“We should be focusing on passing my legislation to expand Pell Grants for lower income students, target loan forgiveness to those in need, and actually make college more affordable for working families,” she said.
Representative Sharice Davids of Kansas said the executive action was not how she would have personally addressed the issue.