Cynthia Lummis Opposes Student Loan Forgiveness, Says You’re Going to Pay For It

With the news that President Joe Biden is toying with the idea of canceling some, or all student loan debt, opponents and proponents are speaking up and raising questions.

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One of those opponents is Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis. Lummis has put out multiple statements on social media in recent weeks, opposing student loan forgiveness and questioning who it's really bailing out.

Fox Business reported that Biden brought up the possibility last week of eliminatig $10,000 in student loan debt per borrower, via executive action. Biden has continually extended a moratorium on student loan debt, due to COVID-19.

"I am considering dealing with some debt reduction," Biden said. "I am not considering $50,000 debt reduction. But I'm in the process of taking a hard look at whether or not there will be additional debt forgiveness."

Fox Business wrote that "Biden supported 'immediately' erasing $10,000 in student debt for most borrowers during his presidential campaign but has raised questions about his legal authority to do so via executive order. Progressives, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have urged Biden to cancel $50,000 in outstanding federal debt per borrower via executive order. Democratic lawmakers have maintained that Biden could use existing executive authority under the Higher Education Act to order the Department of Education to 'modify, compromise, waive or release' student loans."

Whether Biden will actually forgive these debts remains to be seen, but many Republicans are stressing the opinion that it's not fair to those who have paid their debts already, nor is it something that actually benefits lower-to-middle class borrowers.

"The average recipient of a bachelor’s degree accumulates $36k in student debt," Cynthia Lummis wrote in a social media post. "The average recipient of a doctorate accumulates $242k in student debt. This isn’t forgiveness for low-income Americans. It’s a bailout for top earners."

Additionally, Lummis stated that debt can't simply be cancelled. Somebody, she said, will have to pay for it.

"No one can “cancel” student loan debt," Lummis wrote. "Someone has to foot the bill, and in this case, that someone is every American taxpayer. People who never took out student loans. People who have already paid their loan off. Everyone."