White House Tries to Shame GOP Student-Debt Critics for Accepting Pandemic Loan Relief

The White House reacted to Republican lawmakers speaking out against President Biden’s student loan “forgiveness” by equating the loans to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), an initiative started to save businesses shut down during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Republican lawmakers criticized Biden for executive overreach and reckless spending after he announced an executive action “canceling” billions of dollars worth of student loans on Tuesday.

The White House Twitter account responded to Republican criticism on Thursday by posting the dollar amount various critics had forgiven through the PPP.

The government encouraged businesses to use the PPP program during the pandemic to avoid an unemployment crisis, after shutting down businesses for months. The PPP offered loan forgiveness if businesses could prove the loans being forgiven were used for business expenses.

The PPP was also enacted through Congressional legislation, unlike Biden’s student loan program, which was pushed through via executive action. Several lawmakers, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2021, argued that Biden’s unilateral action was unconstitutional.

Republican Oklahoma Representative Markwayne Mullin responded to the White House, saying, “another ignorant attack from a career politician who has never created a single job. 74 days before midterms, Joe Biden is targeting business owners for protecting their employees from government lockdowns. President Trump always supported American workers and job creators.”

GOP strategist Matt Whitlock also responded by questioning if anyone at the White House understood how the PPP program works.

Biden’s student loan “forgiveness” program “cancels” $10,000 in federal student debt for those making under $125,000 annually, and $20,000 for Pell grant recipients.

The total estimated cost for Biden’s one-time cancellation is $300 billion, not including the Pell grant recipient additional expenditure, according to a study released Tuesday by the Wharton School of business at the University of Pennsylvania. The cost would increase to $330 billion if the program continues over the standard ten-year window, the study showed.