Republican 2024 hopefuls hail Supreme Court ruling on student loans
Mabinty Quarshie
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Republican candidates running for president celebrated the Supreme Court‘s ruling on Friday that struck down President Joe Biden‘s student loan forgiveness plan, a subject that is sure to become a hot topic on the 2024 campaign trail as each contender seeks to become the party’s next standard-bearer.
The high court ruled Biden’s plan to wipe away $400 billion in student debt by canceling up to $20,000 in debt for people holding federal student loans was unconstitutional. It comes as the moratorium on student loan payments ends and payments begin once again in October.
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Some 2024 hopefuls praised the ruling, within an hour of the announcement, for blocking Biden’s attempt to use taxpayer money to pay for student loans. Former Vice President Mike Pence was one of the first candidates to weigh in on Friday.
“Joe Biden’s massive trillion-dollar student loan bailout subsidizes the education of elites on the backs of hardworking Americans, and it was an egregious violation of the Constitution for him to attempt to do so unilaterally with the stroke of the executive pen,” Pence said in a statement. “I am pleased that the Court struck down the Radical Left’s effort to use the money of taxpayers who played by the rules and repaid their debts in order to cancel the debt of bankers and lawyers in New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.”
He then referred to his work during the Trump administration to appoint and confirm the three justices, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett, who cemented the Supreme Court’s conservative majority.
“I am honored to have played a role in appointing three of the Justices that ensured today’s welcomed decision, and as President, I will continue to appoint judges who will strictly apply the law and enforce our Constitution’s separation of powers,” Pence added.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, another former Trump administration official running for president, similarly praised the high court for dealing a blow to Biden’s student loan plan, a development the president is vowing to push back against.
“A president cannot just wave his hand and eliminate loans for students he favors, while leaving out all those who worked hard to pay back their loans or made other career choices. The Supreme Court was right to throw out Joe Biden’s power grab,” said Haley in a statement.
Meanwhile, the communication team for Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) posted a video of the governor’s previous comment on student loans while campaigning for the White House. “Colleges and universities should be responsible for defaulted student loan debt. If you produce somebody that can’t pay it back, that’s on you,” DeSantis’s team posted. “I don’t want ANYONE to have to be deep in debt just to get a college degree!”
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Former President Donald Trump‘s affiliated super PAC, MAGA Inc., retweeted multiple tweets celebrating Trump’s work in reshaping the Supreme Court in a way that contributed to Friday’s ruling, including a tweet from Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) that said, “The Trump Court is the greatest Supreme Court in American history.”
Trump remains the GOP’s front-runner in the 2024 race, and the student loan forgiveness ruling is sure to give him another notch on his resume as he seeks the White House for the third time.