Biden's try at canceling student debt met with Minnesota partisan divide

WASHINGTON - Democratic President Joe Biden's attempt to cancel thousands of dollars in federal student loan debt for millions of Americans quickly sparked a partisan divide Wednesday within Minnesota's congressional delegation.

Biden's plan forgives up to $20,000 in debt for Pell Grant recipients, or up to $10,000 for other borrowers, if making under $125,000 as an individual or less than $250,000 as a married couple, according to details from the White House.

"The student debt crisis is holding back millions of Americans and hampering our economy," Democratic Sen. Tina Smith said in a statement. "I believe the President has the authority to forgive student loan debt. Make no mistake: this is a big win."

The move from the Biden administration comes during a challenging environment for Democrats in this fall's midterm elections where the party is trying to keeping control of the U.S. House and Senate.

"This is another political maneuver by the Biden Administration which remains more focused on winning reelection than it is on addressing the actual cause of issues like student loan debt, skyrocketing inflation, and rising crime," Minnesota GOP U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer said in a statement.

Student loan debt was a major campaign issue for Democratic contenders during the 2020 presidential cycle. Moving forward, Biden's decision could animate both the base of his party and alarm Republican voters questioning the president wielding his authority in such a sweeping way.

"President Biden's actions today are yet another major executive power grab," GOP Rep. Brad Finstad said in a statement. "This is terrible policy on so many fronts."

Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar did not immediately comment, while suburban DFL Rep. Dean Phillips said in a statement that he supports Biden's decision.

"Working families need our support now more than ever," Phillips added. "That said, this initiative only treats the symptoms and not the disease."

The president's push could also become a campaign flashpoint over the coming months for swing district Democrats facing tough re-election contests like Rep. Angie Craig.

"The executive order announced today will help provide a bit of debt relief and give folks time to plan to start repaying those student loans," Craig said in a statement. "But we have to work to make college more affordable and make sure students know that technical education can also offer great careers as well without the burden of excessive student loan debt."

Biden's move represents both a historic and potentially polarizing maneuver from the commander-in-chief as he tests the limits of his power by relying on his administration to put the plan in action rather than passing legislation through Congress.

GOP Rep. Pete Stauber said in a statement that "this is a slap in the face to borrowers who were responsible and have paid their student loan debt as it will only worsen inflation," while fellow Republican Rep. Michelle Fischbach tweeted "Today's move is simply #unconstitutional."

The Biden administration is also putting forward an undergraduate loan repayment rule based on income that would mean "no borrower's loan balance will grow as long as they make their monthly payments" and would "cut in half the amount that borrowers have to pay each month from 10% to 5% of discretionary income."

"This is a historic step by @POTUS to #CancelStudentDebt & lift a burden from millions of families!" Democratic Rep. Betty McCollum tweeted.

In an interview earlier this month, Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar noted that she and other members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus met with Biden months ago and pushed him on the issue of student debt forgiveness.

"He was pretty hesitant for a long time, and in that meeting, we were able to get an agreement and a commitment from him that he would cancel student debt," Omar said.

Omar said after the news broke Wednesday she's been talking about student loan forgiveness for six years and had "people thinking we were crazy to do so." She called the announcement an "incredible milestone" but said more needs to be done.

"It's still a floor, not a ceiling," Omar said.

Staff writers Ryan Faircloth and Rochelle Olson contributed to this report.