It’s beginning to sound a little redundant — once again, the Senate managed to bring the student loan interest rate debate back to a screeching halt Wednesday.
The Senate spent the morning debating — and eventually striking down 51-49 — a Democratic proposal that would revert student loan interest rates back to 3.4 percent for the next year and give lawmakers another year to come up with a bipartisan solution.
But even with the White House backing the plan, the Senate still came up nine votes short to invoke cloture on the Democrats’ legislation, which was expected to fail. Every Republican voted no to proceed with the bill, with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) the lone Democrat joining them at first.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) eventually switched his vote to a no as well, allowing for the proposal to be brought up again and angering Senate Republicans.
Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) said that by switching his vote, the majority leader is simply paving a way for Republicans to be “blamed one more time” for the inability to come to a conclusion on student loans.
“Students shouldn’t suffer while we attempt compromise,” Reid had previously stated. “That’s why Democrats have proposed a one-year extension of last year’s 3.4 percent rate.”
Despite Reid’s promise, hope for a bipartisan solution is all but dead, especially with the majority leader’s refusal to look at Republican-sponsored student loan legislation. Reid and other Democrats are wary of the GOP plan, which keeps the interest rate in tune with the economy, resetting rates every year.
“The White House and Congress seem to be competing with each other over who can screw over students worse and Senate Democrats are clearly winning,” Evan Feinberg, president of Generation Opportunity, said in a statement. “Not only did Harry Reid’s proposal do nothing to address government’s monopoly over the student loan market, which is the root cause of skyrocketing tuition, but it also would have added an additional level of uncertainty for prospective borrowers.”
While the White House backed Senate Democrats’ proposal this week, the plan proposed — and passed — by House Republicans eerily resembled that of President Obama’s.
Student loan interest rates doubled to 6.8 percent July 1 after lawmakers failed to compromise and prevent the increase. Many students won’t sign loan agreements over the summer, but college students will be returning to classes for the fall semester in a little over a month, and the pressure is on for lawmakers to figure out a solution before the August recess.
This piece has been updated to include additional information.
