When it comes to doing the right thing by America’s college students, the GOP may be calling Obama’s bluff here.

Nathan Harden of The College Fix reports.

Republican Student Loan Bill Will Test Obama’s True Intentions

Republicans passed a student loan bill last week that would permanently tie student interest rates to the market rate–making those rates reflect the true cost of borrowing. How the White House responds to this bill will tell us a lot about the president’s true intentions, and whether he truly has students’ best interests in mind.

The question is: Will Democrats allow the student loan interest rate to cease being a political tool for them each election year? I doubt it, but Republicans are trying to to do what’s best for students here, by allowing the interest rate to reflect the true market cost of borrowing, rather than having it be set by Congress in arbitrary (and highly politicized) fashion.

The Washington Post reports the details:

The House approved a Republican proposal Thursday to allow interest rates on federal student loans to rise or fall from year to year with the government’s cost of borrowing, ending a system in which rates are fixed by law.

The proposal cleared the GOP-led House on a largely party-line vote of 221 to 198, but it faces opposition in the Democratic-controlled Senate and a veto threat from President Obama.

The legislation responds to a looming deadline: On July 1, unless the law is changed, rates for a certain type of new loan for undergraduate students in financial need will double to 6.8 percent, from 3.4 percent.

Last year, facing a similar rate-doubling deadline during his reelection campaign, Obama pushed Congress to freeze the 3.4 percent rate for one year…