© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden makes remarks on the Student Loan Forgiveness Program from his campus auditorium at the White House in Washington, U.S., Oct. 17, 2022. REUTERS/Leah Millis
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John Cruzel and Andrew Chan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The fate of President Joe Biden’s plan to cancel $430 billion in student loans for nearly 40 million borrowers was put in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, a separate executive branch of authority. We present the main tests of
Nine judges will hear arguments about the Biden administration’s two lower court rulings. The Biden administration backed the policy he announced last August, following legal challenges filed by his six conservative-leaning states and his two student loan borrowers who objected to the plan’s eligibility requirements. stopped.
Under the Democratic president’s plan, the U.S. government will provide up to $10,000 in federal student loans to Americans earning less than $125,000 a year who take out loans to pay for college and other postsecondary education costs. waive $20,000 to recipients of Pell Scholarships awarded to lower grade students. income household.
The program fulfilled Biden’s 2020 campaign pledge to cancel some of his $1.6 trillion in federal student loan debt, but was criticized by Republicans and others for overreaching his powers.
The policy, aimed at easing the financial burden of indebted borrowers, could face scrutiny by courts under the so-called main issue doctrine. Its 6-to-3 conservative majority employs this strong judicial approach to nullify key Biden policies deemed to lack clear congressional approval.
The Biden administration said the plan is authorized under a 2003 federal law called the Higher Education Relief and Opportunities Act (HEROES Act) that allows for student loan debt relief during wartime or during national emergencies. said.
Many borrowers experienced financial strain during the declared public health emergency, the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2020, Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic Biden administrations have repeatedly stopped paying federal student loans and stopped accruing interest under the HEROES Act.
The Biden administration argues that the challengers have not suffered the legal damages necessary to give them a proper position to sue. He said he was unable to provide the foundation.
In a legal challenge filed by individual borrowers Myra Brown and Alexander Taylor, Judge Mark Pittman of the Texas-based U.S. District Court ruled that the student loan forgiveness program had “clear congressional approval.” The New Orleans-based Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit refused to put Pittman’s decision on hold pending appeal.
Missouri-based U.S. District Judge Henry Autry found that Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina lacked legal status to sue. . On appeal, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, based in St. Louis, ruled that at least Missouri was likely entitled to sue, and that court held the Biden program in effect while the case was proceeding. was temporarily blocked.
One of the state’s legal status theories is that Biden’s plan would harm Missouri-based student loan servicers (companies involved in collecting payments), effectively harming the state. It’s about giving. Two borrowers said they were deprived of “procedural rights” under federal law because the government did not allow public comment on Biden’s student debt forgiveness plan.