The House on Wednesday failed to undo President Joe Biden’s veto of Republican-led legislation that would have repealed his plan to cancel up to $20,000 of student debt for tens of millions of Americans.
The override attempt lost on a 221-206 vote, falling far short of the two-thirds majority needed to overcome a presidential veto.
The result was expected since Congress passed the resolution overturning student debt relief earlier this month on a narrow margin, largely along party lines. A handful of moderate Democrats joined with Republicans to pass the measure, but it didn’t come close to creating a veto-proof majority.
Biden vetoed the legislation two weeks ago, defending the debt cancellation program as vital assistance for middle- and working-class families. Republican critics argue the $400 billion plan is too costly for taxpayers and unfair to Americans who didn’t attend college or already repaid their student loans.
With Wednesday’s vote, the GOP legislative effort to kill the plan under the Congressional Review Act is now over. But Biden’s program remains in limbo at the Supreme Court.
The justices are preparing to rule, potentially as early as Thursday, on whether to allow the Biden administration to proceed with student debt cancellation. Republican state attorneys general and a conservative group are suing to stop the program, arguing that it’s an illegal abuse of executive power.
The vetoed resolution also would have repealed the freeze on student loan repayment and interest. But Congress separately, as part of the bipartisan deal to raise the debt ceiling, passed a law that ends the payment pause in the coming months.
Interest in federal student loans is slated to resume on Sept. 1, and the Education Department is preparing to begin collecting monthly payments from borrowers in October.
