A vote has failed in the U.S. Senate to stop interest rates on federal student loans from doubling later this year.

The interest rate on Stafford loans for college students is set to climb to 6.8 percent on July 1st, unless Congress approves a plan to keep it at the current 3.4 percent. An attempt to do that failed in the U.S. Senate Tuesday, after the measure fell eight votes short of the 60 needed to start the debate.

Wisconsin Democrat Herb Kohl voted in favor of moving the measure forward, while Republican Ron Johnson voted no.

Republicans say they support holding the line on student loan interest, but they’re against the Democrats’ plan to do it by raising Medicare and Social Security payroll taxes on high-earning stockholders. The GOP wants to pay for the plan by eliminating a fund created under the health care reform law.

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