GOP Senator Blunt: Biden’s Student Loan Cancellation ‘Monumentally Unfair,’ Will Have ‘Long-Term Devastating Effect’

 Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) blasted the Biden administration’s decision to cancel $10,000 in federal student loan debt for most borrowers.

Appearing on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” Sunday, Blunt said the unilateral decision to forgive the loans was “monumentally unfair” and also slammed the “bad economics” and the impact the policy would have on already sky-high inflation.

“I just thought it was monumentally unfair, unfair to people who didn’t go to college because they didn’t think they could afford it,” Blunt said. “Unfair to people who paid their loans back, unfair to people who got higher education in an area that the government didn’t make loans and just bad economics in addition to that. I think it’s going to have a long-term devastating effect on a student loan program that worked pretty effectively until about ten years ago when the federal government assumed responsibility for that program.”

Two former economists for the Obama administration slammed the plan on Twitter earlier this week. Former Treasury Secretary and National Economic Council director Larry Summers said Monday, “[s]tudent loan debt relief is spending that raises demand and increases inflation.” Former Obama White House chief economist Jason Furman added, “[p]ouring roughly half trillion dollars of gasoline on the inflationary fire that is already burning is reckless.” Furman also said that debt relief could create more problems by encouraging higher tuition, greater borrowing, and creating expectations of future debt forgiveness.

Blunt agreed.

“You can’t forgive that much debt and assume people won’t spend the money for other things,” he said. “It’s certainly going to take about $24 billion that should have been coming into the federal government every year in payments and make that available for more spending.”

Blunt also said that the move was likely a ploy to drum up voter enthusiasm before the midterms while ignoring the long-term consequences.

“The administration had been very hesitant to do this and here they are doing it right before the election and I think people know they got their debt forgiven,” he said. “Other people won’t know the impact that has on them or their taxes between now and Election Day.”