Senate Votes to Overturn Student Loan Relief, Biden Expected to Veto

The Senate voted 52-46 on Thursday to overturn President Joe Biden’s student loan relief plan. Biden has pledged to veto the bill. 

The Details: Moderate Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV), Jon Tester (D-MT), and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) joined all 49 Senate Republicans in supporting the bill. Last week, two Democrats joined Republicans to pass the bill in the House. While Democrats have said the plan would provide needed relief for debt-burdened middle class borrowers, Republicans have framed the plan as a taxpayer-funded bailout for higher-income college-educated people. 

For Context: Biden’s plan would cancel up to $10,000 in student loan payments for most borrowers; the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that overturning the plan would reduce the federal deficit by about $320 billion. The Supreme Court is expected to weigh in on the legality of Biden’s plan in late June. 

How the Media Covered It: While headlines in some outlets on the left said Biden’s plan offered student loan “forgiveness,” some headlines from the right called it a “handout” or a “bailout.” Otherwise, coverage was generally balanced, with articles on the left and right discussing both sides’ arguments.