
The Senate rejected dueling Democratic and Republican plans on May 24 for averting a July 1 doubling of interest rates on federal college loans for 7.4 million students, pushing back efforts to resolve the election-season showdown until next month.
In mostly party-line roll calls, senators voted 62-34 against the GOP package and 51-43 for the Democratic version, with each proposal falling short of the 60 votes needed for approval to avoid a filibuster.
Though both defeats were preordained, the twin votes gave lawmakers from each party a chance to show they favor easing students’ financial burdens—and potential grist for campaign ads accusing the other side of opposing the effort.…Read More