Today, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) named Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) its February 2024 Porker of the Month for saying that fixing climate change depends on forgiving student loan debt.

On February 5, 2024, Rep. Clyburn absurdly and incongruously said student loan debt is “the biggest” issue in America and we’re “not going to solve the climate crisis” unless that debt is forgiven. The Biden administration already forgave student loan debt for more than 3.7 million Americans, costing taxpayers $136.6 billion, even though the Supreme Court blocked the President’s plan to wipe out up to $20,000 for millions of borrowers. Rep. Clyburn has gone further and wants to forgive $50,000 in student loans, which would cost almost $1 trillion. The U.S. is drowning under $34 trillion in debt. Forgiving student loans will not only add to that debt but also force people who paid their loans or never went to college to pay for this bailout.

CAGW President Tom Schatz said, “Rep. Clyburn’s claims are absurd. His continued push to cancel student loan debt will hasten the bankruptcy of America, fail to solve the climate crisis, and leave taxpayers on the hook for a giant bailout. Even though student loan forgiveness has already been too costly, the Biden administration continues to expand eligibility. Rep. Clyburn’s proposal will make it even more expensive. For his efforts to forgive student loan debt to ‘solve the climate crisis,’ which will instead only add to the financial crisis facing the country, Rep. Clyburn was an easy choice for this month’s Porker.”

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government. For more than two decades, Porker of the Month is a dubious honor given to lawmakers and government officials who have shown a blatant disregard for the taxpayers.

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