A Democratic lawmaker who voted to block Biden's broad student-loan forgiveness doubled down on his opposition and said borrowers can 'pay back their loans just like working class people'

• Rep. Jared Golden was one of just two Democrats who voted with the GOP to block Biden's student-debt relief in June.
• He doubled down on his vote in a Friday statement, saying borrowers should repay their debt.
• The Blue Dog Coalition, which Golden co-chairs, recently received a maximum contribution from student lender Sallie Mae.

Rep. Jared Golden was one of the two Democrats to join Republicans in voting for a bill that would block President Joe Biden's broad student-loan forgiveness. He doesn't have any regrets.

On Friday, Golden responded to an article from the Maine Beacon that highlighted a June contribution of $5,000 from student-loan lender Sallie Mae to the Blue Dog Coalition, which is a caucus comprised of nine centrist Democratic members of Congress co-chaired by Golden. $5,000 is the maximum amount a group can contribute, and that specific donation came just a couple of weeks after Golden voted to block Biden's plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for federal borrowers.

While Biden vetoed the legislation, the Supreme Court ended up striking down the plan at the end of June. But Golden wrote in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, that Sallie Mae's contribution did not sway his beliefs on student-debt relief.

"I stand by my vote and my opposition to forking out $10,000 to people who freely chose to attend college," he said. "They were privileged to have the opportunity, and many left college well-situated to make six figure salaries for life. The Twitterati can keep bemoaning their privileged status and demanding handouts all they want, but as far as I'm concerned if they want free money for college, they can join the Marines and serve the country like I, and so many others, have in the past and many more will in the future."

"If they want a career and hard skills without college debt, they should join a union and enter an apprenticeship," he continued. "But if they choose to attend college, they can pay back their loans just like working class people pay back home mortgages, car loans, and many other expenses that people choose to take out loans for."

Joining Golden in chairing the Blue Dogs are Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Mary Peltota. Gluesenkamp Perez was the one other Democratic House member along with Golden who voted to block student-debt relief, saying at the time that "expansions of student debt forgiveness need to be matched dollar-for-dollar with investments in career & technical education. I can't support the first without the other. The severe shortage of trades workers needs to be seen & treated as a national priority. It's about respect."

The Education Department is currently in the process of finalizing a new student-debt relief plan using the Higher Education Act. It could take some time because the law requires the department to go through negotiated rulemaking, which entails a series of hearings and negotiations with stakeholders. Meanwhile, other Democratic lawmakers are continuing to push for relief for borrowers — especially with the student-loan payment pause ending in September.

"Obviously we're holding out hope that there's going to be some relief, but I think that we need to start preparing," Rep. Summer Lee previously told Insider in an interview. "We need a Plan C through Z."