If Romney has anything to say about it, student loan borrowers won't be able to get debt forgiveness.
The lawmaker from Utah and several of his Republican colleagues introduced a new bill that would bar the Biden administration from broadly canceling student loan debt, a move that the president has been considering since he took office last year.
The Student Loan Accountability Act would prohibit the Education, Justice, and Treasury Departments from taking any action that would cancel or forgive student loan borrowers' outstanding balances.
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness and Teacher Loan Forgiveness programs are examples of programs that would be exempt from the bill.
Romney introduced the bill in Congress this week with the help of five Republican senators.
The bill is not likely to become law with a Democratic-controlled House and Biden in the Oval Office.
More than 40 million Americans have student loan debt. Less than a year into his presidency, little movement has been made on Biden's promise to forgive $10,000 per borrower.
Romney said in a statement that it makes no sense for the Biden Administration to cancel student loan debt.
The senator said that the decision would be unfair to those who already repaid their loans and would be wildly inflationary at a time of historic inflation.
Several times in a Wednesday press release, the lawmakers said Biden's legal authority to forgive or cancel swaths of student loan debt is questionable.
Recent indications from the White House suggest Biden is considering student-loan forgiveness of at least $10,000 per borrower through executive action, though questions remain around who would be eligible.
The Republican lawmakers sponsoring the bill said student loan forgiveness would raise inflation rates, worsen inequality and encourage colleges and universities to raise tuition. A May analysis found that the Biden plan would cost the government $321 billion.
Despite the ongoing controversy around the policy, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said last week that student loan forgiveness could be good for the economy.
There are some trade-offs that need to be analyzed.
Progressives are pushing for $50,000 per borrower, an amount the president himself has said he is not considering, as Democrats and advocates continue to urge Biden to consider more forgiveness.
Romney has previously spoken out against student loan forgiveness, calling it a bribe for voters. He cautions that it could be a slippery slope that leads to broad forgiveness for other types of debt.
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