A new Gallup Poll shows Obama must generate more enthusiasm among younger people to ensure they vote, though he leads Romney 64 percent to 29 percent among people ages 18 to 29. Only 56 percent of young registered voters said they will definitely vote in November, according to the poll conducted April 20-24. Romney leads Obama by 12 percentage points among voters age 65 and older, and 86 percent of this group said they planned to vote.
The anti-tax group Club for Growth had urged lawmakers to oppose the bill, saying it would count as a "yes" vote against lawmakers in its annual congressional scorecard.
"The federal government should not be in the business of distorting the market for student loans," Club for Growth President Chris Chocola said in a statement. "Decades of government intervention have driven tuition costs to record highs and continuing these subsidies is simply bad policy."
Heritage Action for America, a political action group that supports smaller government, urged defeat of the student-loan measure, saying the vote would be among those used to rate lawmakers.
"Not only do the subsidies fail to stem the rising cost of a college education, the loans are also easily attained, increasing the likelihood taxpayers will be left on the hook when students default," the group said in a statement.
Arizona Representative Jeff Flake, a Republican who is running for the U.S. Senate, said he opposes the bill because "paying for extensions with temporary subsidies from Obamacare funds is disingenuous."
The House bill is H.R. 4628.