Republicans use Pelosi’s own words against her as they urge her to press Biden on student debt

‘People think that the President of the United States has the power for debt forgiveness. He does not. He can postpone, he can delay but he does not have that power,’ House Speaker said in July

A group of House Republicans sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urging her to press President Joe Biden on his student debt forgiveness plan, citing her own words about the president’s authority.

Representative Jody Hice of Georgia led a group of 93 other House Republicans asking her to press the president on his plan.

Mr Biden announced his policy last week, which would forgive $10,000 worth of debt for individuals earning up to $125,000 a year, while Pell Grant recipients could receive $20,000 in debt cancellation.

But GOP figures including House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, as well as Representatives Louie Gohmert, Victoria Spartz and others, have decried the programme.

“Noticeably absent from the President’s plan is any plausible legal authority to implement such a policy,” the letter says. “No provision of the Constitution nor any act of Congress, including the Higher Education Act, grants President Biden or the Secretary of Education the authority that they falsely claim to wield through this unilateral action.”

In turn, Republicans cited Ms Pelosi’s words from 21 July of last year.

“People think that the President of the United States has the power for debt forgiveness,” she said at the time. “He does not. He can postpone, he can delay but he does not have that power. That has to be an act of Congress.”

Republicans said that despite their disagreements with the Speaker, they agree with her on this sentiment.

“President Biden’s student loan giveaway is unconstitutional and illegal,” they wrote. “Given your previously stated position and your leadership role as Speaker of the House, it is imperative that you act immediately in defense of our Constitution and the powers of the legislative branch.”

Many Republicans roundly criticised Mr Biden for his student debt forgiveness plan, to which Mr Biden has called out their hypocrisy for taking Paycheck Protection Program loans during the Covid-19 pandemic.