More Crooked Democrats

Fort Worth TX

Description

Over a dozen Democratic members of Congress who have supported student loan cancellation owe up to roughly $1.5 million combined in their own or a family member’s educational debt, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation review of financial disclosures. The Biden administration is reportedly mulling over a policy to forgive student loan debt for millions of borrowers and it is unclear whether income limits would be included. “When Members have these type of connections to issues they are directly advocating for, it leads to citizens fairly questioning whether members are advocating for the public good or their own personal interests,” said Kendra Arnold, executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, a watchdog group aiming to uphold ethics in government. More than a dozen Democratic members of Congress who have urged President Joe Biden to forgive student loans reported over $1 million in educational debt, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation review of financial disclosures. The 13 Democratic members, who are an average of 46 years old, reported the debts in 2021 and 2020. Individual debts range from as little as $15,000 to as much as $250,000, for a combined total of up to roughly $1.5 million. Over a dozen Democratic members of Congress who have supported student loan cancellation owe up to roughly $1.5 million combined in their own or a family member’s educational debt, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation review of financial disclosures. The Biden administration is reportedly mulling over a policy to forgive student loan debt for millions of borrowers and it is unclear whether income limits would be included. “When Members have these type of connections to issues they are directly advocating for, it leads to citizens fairly questioning whether members are advocating for the public good or their own personal interests,” said Kendra Arnold, executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, a watchdog group aiming to uphold ethics in government. More than a dozen Democratic members of Congress who have urged President Joe Biden to forgive student loans reported over $1 million in educational debt, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation review of financial disclosures. The 13 Democratic members, who are an average of 46 years old, reported the debts in 2021 and 2020. Individual debts range from as little as $15,000 to as much as $250,000, for a combined total of up to roughly $1.5 million. Similarly, Georgia Rep. Nikema Williams reported in 2021 that her spouse has up to $250,000 of student loan debt through Navient and College Foundation — which service both federal and private loans. She joined Omar in the 2021 letter and said in December of that year the U.S. must “close the racial #wealthgap.” “I don’t have the disclosure in front of me so I don’t know exactly which loans you’re speaking of because I have a lot of loans and my husband has a lot of loans,” Williams, who did not respond to follow-up requests for comment that included a link to her financial disclosure, told the DCNF. “I don’t have it in front of me. I am in a car to take my son to karate.” Republican North Carolina Rep. Virginia Foxx, the ranking member on the House education and labor committee, told the DCNF Biden’s loan forgiveness plan is a “scam” and Democratic members see it “as an all you can eat buffet.” “From political appointees in the Biden White House to Democrat members of Congress, men and women are lining up with their palms outstretched to get a piece of the pie – even if it means pinning their debt on hardworking taxpayers,” said Foxx, who along with Republican Kentucky Rep. James Comer demanded the Office of Government Ethics in June probe possible conflicts of interest for White House staffers who may benefit from debt cancellation. Republican Michigan Rep. Lisa McClain, who is also on the House education and labor committee, told the DCNF it appears members are “using their power” to cancel debts and it “seems like a big conflict of interest.” Offices for other members who have supported student loan forgiveness and reported debt on financial disclosures did not respond to requests for comment. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.