Roughly 44 million Americans owe a combined $1.7 trillion in student loans. Photo: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

WASHINTON — On Wednesday Utah Senator Mitt Romney (R) led Sens. Richard Burr (R-NC), Tim Scott (R-SC), Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), and Thom Tillis (R-NC) in introducing the Student Loan Accountability Act, legislation to prohibit the Biden administration from cancelling student loan debt.

Roughly 44 million Americans owe a combined $1.7 trillion in student loans.

According to reports, the White House is considering forgiving at least $10,000 per borrower, an idea Joe Biden voiced support for on the campaign trail. Some Democrats have pressed for $50,000 in forgiveness or canceling the debt entirely. The president said in April that he was “taking a hard look” at the issue.

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The moratorium on payments initially established during the pandemic was extended until August earlier this year.

“It makes no sense for the Biden Administration to cancel nearly $2 trillion in student loan debt. This decision would not only be unfair to those who already repaid their loans or decided to pursue alternative education paths, but it would be wildly inflationary at a time of already historic inflation,” Senator Romney said.

“Democrats and Republicans alike have called on the President to not take this unwise step and pile more onto our $30 trillion national debt. And while the President’s legal authority in forgiving this debt is dubious at best, our bill would ensure that he would be prevented from taking action.”

The proposed law would prohibit the Department of Education, Department of Justice, and the Department of Treasury from taking any action to cancel or forgive the outstanding balances, or portions of balances, of covered loans. It includes exemptions for existing targeted federal student loan forgiveness, cancellation, or repayment programs currently in effect under the Higher Education Act, such as the Public Service Loan Forgiveness and Teacher Loan Forgiveness programs.