Supreme Court strikes down student loan program: NPR
The Supreme Court in Washington, DC on Tuesday, June 27 as the deadline moves into what should be the final week.
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The Supreme Court in Washington, DC on Tuesday, June 27 as the deadline moves into what should be the final week.
Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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In a much-anticipated decision, the Supreme Court on Friday struck down President Biden’s groundbreaking plan to forgive some or all of the federal student loan debt for tens of millions of Americans.
In a vote of 6 to 3 on ideological lines, the high court ruled that federal law does not authorize the Department of Education to write off such student loan debt.
Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said: « The power to ‘modify’ statutes and regulations allows the Secretary to make modest adjustments and additions to existing provisions, not to transform them».
Siding with the states, Justice Amy Coney Barrett said, in her concurring opinion, that the principal questions doctrine « strengthens » the majority’s conclusion « but is not necessary to it. »
In her dissent, Judge Elena Kagan criticized « the court’s exaggeration and noted that it would have ruled that states had no right to sue.
« The plaintiffs in this case are six states that have no personal interest in the secretary’s loan forgiveness plan, » he said. « They are the classic ideological plaintiffs: they think the plan is a bad idea, but they are no worse off because the secretary is different. »
Last August, President Biden told federal student loan borrowers that the US government would cancel up to $20,000 of debt for low-income students who received a Pell grant to attend college and up to $10,000 for the vast majority of remaining borrowers. He cited a 2001 law that allows the Secretary of Education « to alleviate the hardship federal student loan recipients may experience as a result of national emergencies. » This is the same law that President Trump has used to freeze federal student loan payments and accrued interest due to the COVID pandemic.
Soon after Biden’s announcement, however, six states filed a lawsuit to halt implementation of the debt relief plan, arguing that Biden exceeded his authority under federal law. The Supreme Court eventually stepped in to review the case.
The High Court ruling represents another example of its expanding use of the « Major Issues Doctrine, » the idea that Congress must speak very clearly when it grants executive agencies such as the Department of Education the power to make decisions about issues that are politically or economically significant. And, as the doctrine says, if there is any ambiguity about whether Congress granted this power, the courts should not assume that Congress did. Last year, the High Court struck down the Secretary of Labor’s vaccine mandate on these grounds.
The decision came as a disappointment to federal student loan borrowers who were eligible for relief under the plan: a whopping 43 million borrowers, or about 1 in 8 Americans.
In the fall, student loan interest accrual and payments will begin again, affecting borrowers in all 50 states.
