E&W Blog

Politico reported that Republicans “hijacked” and “dominated” yesterday’s hearing on tribal colleges by instead focusing on President Biden’s radical student loan agenda.

This tactic clearly upset the Democrats. Rep. Leger Fernandez (D-NM) stated, "The minority has decided to hijack this hearing to score political points about student loans.” And Chairman Scott (D-VA) said he was “disappointed” with Republicans.

Maybe they are frustrated because Democrats are doing everything in their power to keep their heads in the sand as President Biden steamrolls Congress to grant mass student loan forgiveness. As Rep. Good (R-VA) argued, “The President is misusing his emergency powers to defer or even transfer student loan debt and burden generations of Americans with higher taxes for years to come.”

Higher Education and Workforce Investment Subcommittee Republican Leader, Miller-Meeks (R-IA) aptly noted the Committee held, “three hearings on minority-serving institutions and zero hearings dedicated to the need to reform student loan programs.” These are important institutions—but Democrats’ refusal to address failures in the American higher education system, which saddled students with more than $1.6 trillion in loan debt, shows that the Left’s priorities are completely out of line.

Testimony from Dr. Beth Akers, an expert in the economics of higher education, shed light on what Republicans long argued: Broad student loan forgiveness will provide incentives to schools to charge exorbitant tuition rates, and enable students to borrow more than necessary to pursue degrees with little or no return. When asked by Rep. Comer (R-KY) about the “harm of this administration’s student loan policies,” Akers noted that bailouts are meant to help those “who need them the most. We know that the disproportionate amount of student debt is held by people in the top end of the income distribution.”

Republicans understand something Democrats, evidently, do not: America’s wealthiest, who can pay their own loans, do not need a handout from taxpayers. These policies are unfair to those who have already paid back their loans or never even went to college. 

As Rep. Good pointed out, forgiving the loans of students and graduates today, but handing out more loans tomorrow, makes no logical sense. But logic has never been Democrats’ strong suit.

If Republicans have to “hijack” a hearing to hold the Biden administration accountable and stop this reckless student loan forgiveness free-for-all, then so be it.