House Debt Plan Would Mean Higher Ed Spending Cuts

Inside Higher Ed

Katherine Knott

April 21, 2023

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Wednesday blasted the House Republicans’ proposed plan to lift the debt ceiling. The plan would block the administration from forgiving student loans and calls for cuts in federal spending.

“Speaker [Kevin] McCarthy declared that he will force a catastrophic default and plunge America into recession unless he can claw back school relief dollars and prevent millions of hardworking Americans—including over 83,000 borrowers in his own district—from getting the student debt relief they need coming out of the pandemic,” Cardona said in a statement.

Student debt relief advocates slammed the plan, and higher education lobbyists warned that the spending cuts would be devastating for students, colleges and universities.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s plan would raise the county’s debt limit by $1.5 trillion and also cut discretionary spending to fiscal year 2022 levels and limit future budget growth to 1 percent a year. The proposal is not likely to move forward in the Senate, even if it passes the narrowly divided House, but essentially serves as McCarthy’s opening offer in negotiations with President Biden over the debt ceiling.

The Treasury Department is currently taking “extraordinary measures” to keep the country from defaulting on its debt.

“It’s a shame for students and working families across the country that Republican lawmakers, many of whom benefitted from hundreds of thousands of dollars in small business loan forgiveness, continue to fight hypocritically to deny critical student debt relief to millions of their own constituents,” Cardona said.

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