Washington, D.C. (RELEASE) November 17th, 2023 — U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) voted in support of Senate Joint Resolution 43 (S. J. Res. 43), a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution, which sought to overturn the U.S. Department of Education rule that drastically reduces the amount student loan borrowers have to pay back through Income Driven Repayment plans. It would have prevented hardworking people in Wyoming from being forced to pay off the loans of doctors, lawyers and those with multiple graduate degrees across the country.

“If YOU take out a loan, YOU need to pay it back,” said Lummis. “Asking people in Wyoming who either didn’t go to college themselves, paid their way or worked hard to pay back their own student loans to bankroll someone else’s degree at a time when the average Wyoming household is spending an additional $1,000 more each month to keep up with rising costs of living shows how woefully out of touch this administration is with the average American. Instead of driving costs up even higher for Wyoming families by using unlawful executive orders to enforce his radical and costly liberal policy dreams, President Biden needs to work with Congress to balance the budget and bring down costs for families.” 

Click here to view text of the resolution.

Background:

• In June 2023, the Supreme Court struck down President Biden’s previous attempt to transfer $400 billion in student debt to taxpayers by a vote of 6-3.
• The U.S. Department of Education estimates that this rule will cost $156 billion over the next 10 years.

This is an increase from the original $137 billion estimate for the proposed rule.