First lady Jill Biden. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Biden praised Mesa Community College's "Promise" program, which its website describes as a needs-based commitment from the city of Mesa to residents that eligible students can attend the school without paying tuition or registration fees.
"Community colleges should be free in America," she said.
The first lady's remarks come as the Biden administration continues to take heat over its machinations to cancel student loan debt.
Yet, the U.S. national debt is climbing at a rapid pace and has shown no signs of slowing down. As of last week, the national debt – which measures what the U.S. owes its creditors – rose to $34,541,727,970,599.17, according to the latest numbers published by the Treasury Department.
In June 2023, the Supreme Court ruled against the Biden administration, in asserting 6-3 that federal law does not permit Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to cancel more than $430 billion in student loan debt.
GOP REP JABS EDUCATION SECRETARY OVER DEBT FORGIVENESS: ‘ARE CAR LOANS NEXT?'
In February, President Biden, in turn, received blowback for saying the high bench "didn't stop me" after "my MAGA Republican friends" sued.
One critic wrote on X that "one of the ‘nobody is above the law’ people is debunking that again," while Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., said, "the decay of checks and balances isn't a flex."
In his 2020 campaign platform, Biden called for making community colleges and tech schools free.
However, an analysis by The Associated Press suggested that the cost of his proposal stopped short of the $1 trillion mark, a figure associated with the more expansive education funding plans championed by his progressive counterparts, Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
President Biden's 2025 fiscal budget also seeks $90 billion to expand access to free community college despite congressional and judicial resistance.
During a hearing last week before the House Education & Workforce Committee, Cardona was confronted by a Republican member over the administration's overall efforts to forgive student debt.
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Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., pointedly asked if car loans are next on the administration's debt-cancellation agenda, while also appearing to suggest the administration sees themselves as "above the law."
"Mr. Secretary, President Biden's Department of Education has canceled $153 billion in student loans, with plans to cancel $1.4 trillion. The House of Representatives said no – We actually passed legislation on that – The Senate said no. The Fifth Circuit Court said no. And the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court, said no," McClain said.
"Yet you continue to march on. I would like to know what makes you qualified to ignore the majority of Congress and the Supreme Court."
Fox News' Lindsay Kornick, Elizabeth Elkind and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.
He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.
Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.
Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.
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