WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today issued the following statement regarding the Supreme Court’s decision in Biden v. Nebraska, which struck down President Biden’s reckless and costly student loan bailout executive order:

“Not only was President Biden’s budget-busting student loan bailout fundamentally unfair, now it has been found unconstitutional,” said Thune. “Instead of putting together a real plan to lower the costs of higher education, President Biden put forward an unserious scheme to force 87 percent of Americans who do not have student loan debt to bear the costs of the 13 percent of Americans who do. Anyone frustrated by today’s decision should direct their complaints to the White House, where they knew this executive order would likely be struck down by the courts but did nothing whatsoever to meaningfully address exorbitant costs in higher education.”

Last week, Thune spoke about this issue at the weekly Senate Republican leadership press conference.

Earlier this month, Thune and Sens. Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) urged U.S. Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to abandon the agency’s costly student loan forgiveness efforts and instead focus on preparing borrowers and loan servicers to resume student loan repayments. The senators’ letter also requests information regarding how much staff time and taxpayer dollars have gone toward setting up and carrying out the Biden administration’s student loan agenda.

In February, Thune and Sen. Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.) reintroduced the Stop Reckless Student Loan Actions Act. The legislation would have ended President Biden’s untargeted, budget-busting suspension of repayments on qualifying federal student loans. The bill also would have still allowed the president to temporarily suspend repayment for certain low- and middle-income borrowers, as well as members of the armed forces during a time of war or national emergency. The bill would have also prohibited the president from cancelling outstanding federal student loan obligations due to a national emergency.

Thune has led common-sense measures to address the problem of student debt. In December 2020, Congress passed a five-year version of legislation Thune introduced with Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) to allow employers to help employees repay their loans. Thune and Warner’s Employer Participation in Repayment Act amends the Educational Assistance Program to permit employers to make tax-free payments on their employees’ student loans.