The official White House Twitter put several Republican lawmakers on blast Thursday (August 24) following the announcement of a huge student loan forgiveness plan for millions of Americans.
High-profile GOP Congressmen and candidates criticized the move for being "unfair" to taxpayers and those who already paid off their debts. In response to the backlash, the White House makes a rare clap back at five Republicans in a Twitter thread.
Officials exposed that these politicians had hundreds of thousands of dollars -- for some, millions -- worth of Paycheck Protection Program loans forgiven.
"For our government just to say ok your debt is completely forgiven. It’s completely unfair," Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia said during an interview with Newsmax.
The White House quote-tweeted the clip, simply saying: "Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene had $183,504 in PPP loans forgiven."
Officials also called out these representatives:
Congressman Vern Buchanan described the plan as "reckless... giveaway" and had $2.3 million in PPP loans forgiven.
Congressman Markwayne Mullin saw $1.4 million in PPP loans forgiven, claiming he didn't want farmers, teachers, and small business owners paying off doctors and lawyers' college debt.
Congressman Kevin Hern got $1 million in PPP loan forgiveness, but says the government is forcing working-class Americans "to pay for other people's college degrees."
Congressman Mike Kelly, who called the student loan forgiveness plan a "bad policy," got $987,237 in PPP loans cleared.
As of Friday morning (August 26), only Mullin has directly responded to the White House's simple statement about him:
"Another ignorant attack from a career politician who has never created a single job. 74 days before midterms, Joe Biden is targeting business owners for protecting their employees from government lockdowns. President Trump always supported American workers and job creators."
The PPP loans were approved in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic to help struggling U.S. businesses stay afloat. While many small businesses took advantage of the program, there were times when huge companies ended up getting millions of dollars from the federal government.
Under the new student loan forgiveness program, Americans making under $125,000 a year will see $10,000 chopped off from their debt. If you got a Pell Grant while attending college, that's another $10,000 removed. Student loan payments have also been paused to December 31, 2022. The White House will provide more information about how to apply before the end of the year.
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