GOP presidential candidates applaud court’s student loan decision

Much of the Republican field of presidential candidates was unanimous in praising Friday’s Supreme Court decision to reject President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan.

Senator Tim Scott, Nikki Haley and former Vice President Mike Pence were among the first of the 2024 contenders to give their support for the decision to the six conservative justices.

“The U.S. Supreme Court was right in ending the Biden administration’s illegal and immoral attempt to transfer student debt to taxpayers,” Mr. Scott said. wrote on Twitter. “When you take out a loan, you pay it back.”

He called on colleges and universities to “act to reduce tuition and improve the quality of their programs” and promised that as president he would take action to make education more affordable and expand access to vocational training.

Mr. Pence sought credit for having “played a role in appointing three of the judges who made today’s welcome decision” — though he did not name former President Donald J. Trump, even when he was one of highlighted the signature achievements of the Trump administration.

“Joe Biden’s massive trillion-dollar student loan bailout subsidizes the education of elites on the backs of hard-working Americans,” Pence said. wrote on Twitter“and it was a flagrant violation of the Constitution for him to attempt this unilaterally with the stroke of the pen.”

Mrs. Haley was equally critical, depicting the president’s plan as unfair.

“A president cannot just wave his hand and cut loans for students he prefers while excluding all those who have worked hard to pay back their loans or made other career choices,” Ms. Haley wrote on Twitter.

In a Friday morning speech in Philadelphia, she praised the court: “Can I just say God bless the Supreme Court? They make up for a lot of mistakes.”