22 GOP governors urge Biden to ditch his federal student loan debt cancellation plan

Twenty-two Republican governors have joined together in a letter urging President Joe Biden to abandon his plan to cancel massive amounts of federal student loan debt.

The Biden administration plans to cancel $10,000 of federal student loan debt for individuals earning less than $125,000 per year, or less than $250,000 per year in the case of married couples — people who received Pell Grants for school and meet the income criteria would get a whopping $20,000 of debt cancellation.

The plan would not benefit people who have already paid off their federal student loans, or those who never took out any federal student loans.

"For many borrowers, they worked hard, made sacrifices, and paid off their debt. For many others, they chose hard work and a paycheck rather than more school and a loan. Americans who did not choose to take out student loans themselves should certainly not be forced to pay for the student loans of others," the 22 GOP governors noted in their letter to the president.

The governors asserted that the "plan rewards the rich and punishes the poor."

"At a time when inflation is sky high due to your unprecedented tax-and-spend agenda, your plan will encourage more student borrowing, incentivize higher tuition rates, and drive-up inflation even further, negatively impacting every American," the letter contended. "Rather than addressing the rising cost of tuition for higher education or working to lower interest rates for student loans, your plan kicks the can down the road and makes today’s problems worse for tomorrow's students."

The president does not have the "the authority to wield unilateral action to usher in a sweeping student loan cancellation plan," the governors asserted.

The GOP governors who backed the letter include: Kim Reynolds of Iowa, Kay Ivey of Alabama, Mike Dunleavy of Alaska, Doug Ducey of Arizona, Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, Ron DeSantis of Florida, Brian Kemp of Georgia, Brad Little of Idaho, Larry Hogan of Maryland, Mike Parson of Missouri, Greg Gianforte of Montana, Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, Doug Burgum of North Dakota, Mike DeWine of Ohio, Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma, Henry McMaster of South Carolina, Kristi Noem of South Dakota, Bill Lee of Tennessee, Greg Abbott of Texas, Spencer Cox of Utah, and Mark Gordon of Wyoming.