WASHINGTON — The Biden administration asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to uphold its decision to forgive tens of billions of dollars of student loan debt for tens of millions of Americans, acting within its executive powers. and did not require new parliamentary approval.
In a brief letter filed to the judge, the Justice Department dismissed legal challenges filed by six Republican-led states, arguing that the states had no grounds to challenge the decision in court in the first place. .
The administration’s response to the challenge came a month after the court agreed to hear the matter and put the case on an expedited schedule. The judge said he is due to hear arguments in February and left in place a lower court injunction barring the government from proceeding with the program until the legal issues are resolved.
The program will forgive up to $20,000 of debt for 40 million borrowers with annual incomes of less than $125,000. More than 16 million potential beneficiaries have already been approved for relief and millions more have applied if the courts allow the program to proceed. The administration said nearly 90% of the profits would go to borrowers who had already graduated from school and earned less than $75,000 a year.
President Biden’s decision to grant pardon represents one of the most drastic spending decisions ever initiated by a president without a specific congressional vote. The bipartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the cost at about $400 billion over his 30 years, with most of the economic impact occurring over the next decade.
Each of the states contesting the decision (Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and South Carolina) argued that the government did not have the authority to independently approve such a large-scale move, and that future tax revenues would be deducted from the state. claim that it will deprive
“The administration is once again waking up to the Covid-19 pandemic, claiming power far beyond what Congress could have imagined,” the state said in a brief filed with the Supreme Court in November, before judges previously two other Covid-related measures. “Now, while President Biden is publicly declaring the pandemic over, secretaries and the Department of Education are using Covid-19 to justify mass debt forgiveness,” they added.
Under the Covid-19 relief measures launched under President Donald J. Trump in March 2020 and continued under Mr. Biden, most borrowers have already skipped student loan payments for nearly three years. is ready. The Biden administration extended the suspension of payments until September.
Counsel for the Biden team, filed Wednesday, argued that the pandemic was also the basis for the debt cancellation program, which the administration had powers under the 2003 Heroes Act. national emergency.
“The Secretary’s action falls well within the plaintext of the act,” Brief said, referring to Education Secretary Miguel A. Cardona.
The brief also challenged the state’s right to sue the program. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has issued an injunction that temporarily suspends its waivers pending a legal settlement, and damages the Missouri Department of Higher Education Loans, a nonprofit that provides federal loans. focused on the possibility of giving
But an administrative brief argued that officials were separate from Missouri and that any harm would be highly speculative. borrowers said they were not eligible to challenge the program.
Student-loan plans may have played a role in favoring Democrats in November’s midterm elections. CNN’s exit polls show the voter overall is relatively evenly split on the issue, with 50% in favor and 47% against, but the program was definitively defeated for Democrats. It had much higher support among younger voters.
