Republicans accuse Biden of having 'no shame' as he cancels student debt for 813,000 people in 're-election ploy' that will force taxpayers to saddle billions of dollars extra

The leading Republican opponent of student loan forgiveness on Wednesday slammed President Joe Biden's plan to cancel student debt for 813,000 people as a clear effort to buy his way to reelection next year.

Hundreds of thousands of former students will receive emails from the president in the coming days telling them that their debt has been forgiven.

Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy posted the president's message on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, including a request for beneficiaries to share the good news. 

'Couldn’t make it any clearer that Biden's ploy to force taxpayers who didn't go to college to saddle hundreds of billions of someone else’s student debt is a ploy to gain political support for his reelection,'  wrote.

'No shame.'

Biden's move means he has forgiven a total of $127 billion for 3.5 million borrowers, despite the fact that his plan to cancel $400 billion in debt was rejected by the Supreme Court in June.

Aides and supporters see it as nothing but good news, with their social media feeds filling with details. 

Even Republicans who complained that it meant ordinary taxpayers were footing the bill kept largely quiet after the latest announcement. 

The email - making clear that the help has come from Biden - read: 'Congratulations — your student loan has been forgiven because of actions my administration took to make sure you receive the relief you earned and deserve.' 

Biden's headstrong push for the relief program coincides with the looming 2024 election and desire to get young voters on board. 

A White House spokesperson said Tuesday: 'The president is committed to fighting for hardworking American families, making sure we get them a little more breathing room, and allowing them to support themselves and their families.' 

At the beginning of October, Biden canceled another $9 billion in student loan debt, giving relief to 125,000 borrowers.

The move came as borrowers prepare for payments to restart after a three-year pause that began during the COVID-19 pandemic.

'Americans who are saddled with unsustainable debt in exchange for a college degree has become the norm,' Biden said in remarks at the White House.

He argued canceling student loan debt is good for the economy as borrowers will spend their payment money on other items.

'This kind of relief is life-changing for individuals and their families. But it's good for our economy as a whole as well. By freeing millions of Americans from the crushing burden of student debt it means they can go and get their lives in order. They can think about buying a house. They can start a business. They can be starting a family. This matters. This matters to their daily lives,' the president said.

In total, 3.6 million borrowers will have had $127 billion in debt wiped out since Biden took office.

'My administration will continue to use every tool at our disposal to help ease the burden of student debt so more Americans can be free to achieve their dreams. It's good for our economy. It's good for our country. And it's going to change their lives,' he said.

Federal student loan payments resumed on October 1.

In June, the Supreme Court canceled Biden's student loan forgiveness program, which promised up to $20,000 in debt relief for low- and middle-income borrowers, the administration has continued to find other ways to provide debt relief.

In the aftermath Biden said he would pursue new measures to provide student loan relief.

He's been relying on a patchwork of different programs to chip away at debt, such as public service loan forgiveness and the SAVE Plan, which lowers payments by tying them to borrowers' income.

Meanwhile earlier this month, the Biden administration got a big slap on the wrist by one of its own agencies for failing to put strong anti-fraud safeguards in its original plan to hand out $430 billion in student loan relief.

In a blistering report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) exposed shortcomings in Biden's student loan forgiveness plan - which has since been squashed by the Supreme Court - saying it opened the door to fraud.

'We found that Education quickly approved borrowers for debt relief without applying key practices to prevent fraud. For example, it didn't verify certain borrowers' self-reported income before approving them for relief.'

In addition, it said that the department approved over 12 million borrower applicants 'without evaluating the accuracy and outcomes of its application process.'

And 2 million students were set to be automatically approved based on their self-reported income without the Education Department deploying 'any tools to verify these borrowers' incomes or ensure they were eligible for relief.'

Members of Congress were quick to jump on the report and criticize Biden and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.