GOP blocks bill to help ease student loan debt

Senate Republicans on Wednesday filibustered a bill that would have helped people with outstanding student loans refinance their debt at lower interest rates. By a 56-38 vote, the measure failed to clear the 60-vote threshold necessary to advance to debate.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), would have been funded by raising taxes on those who make more than $1 million.

That the bill would fail was essentially preordained given the Senate's partisan polarization, though Democrats can use the vote to further their midterm pitch that Republicans favor the rich over the middle class.

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