Driving the news: The Biden administration announced last week that it would cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 for individual borrowers making less than $125,000 a year. What they’re saying: “I know it’s shocking, George, to some Republicans that the government occasionally does something to benefit working families and low-income people,” Sanders told host George Stephanopoulos.

“I don’t hear any of these Republicans screaming when we give massive tax breaks to billionaires,” he added. Sanders also called for further action, saying public universities and colleges should be tuition-free to ensure the US is “competitive in a global economy.” Sanders responded to criticism of the plan from some Democrats by saying that “in one sense the criticism is right, but the answer is not to deny aid to people who can’t deal with this horrible student debt… The answer is that maybe, just Maybe, we want to have a government that works for all workers and not just the people at the top,” calling for higher taxes on the rich and a higher minimum wage, among other policies.

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) appeared on the same program and called student loan forgiveness “monumentally unfair” to people who didn’t go to college or have already paid off their loans, and “just plain bad economics.”

Stephanopoulos pointed out that many economists believe the decision will not increase inflation, a key Democratic criticism of the plan. “Well, if that’s what they think, most economists are wrong,” Blunt said. Sanders later responded to Blunt’s criticism of the plan by saying, “He’s wrong. 60% of benefits go to people who received Pell grants, 87% of benefits go to people making $75,000 a year.”

Ohio’s Democratic Senate candidate Tim Ryan criticized the plan during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.

“There are a lot of people who are hurting in our society right now. People are getting crushed by inflation, they’re getting crushed by gas prices, food prices and all the rest of it. And I think a targeted approach right now really sends the wrong message message,” Ryan said.

“One of the dumbest things we’ve ever done in this country is tell everybody they have to go to college. I mean, that was a huge mistake,” he added. “We got rid of the shop class, we got rid of the things that build the working class and the skilled trades, and here we are and we’ve done nothing to control the cost of college. So we’ll be in the same place in five years.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who had joined other progressives advocating for Biden to cancel up to $50,000 in student loan debt, told CNN’s “State of the Union” that she was “so happy” to see the decision.

“This is about America investing in people who work hard, who play by the rules and who just need a government on their side,” he said. Asked about the cost of college remaining too high, Warren admitted that “we have a lot of problems throughout the system” and that “we have to deal with the cost of college immediately, absolutely.”

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