The end of COVID 'emergencies' should be death knell of Biden's loan forgiveness plan

There’s been lots of chatter over what President Joe Biden said in his State of the Union address.

What he didn’t say deserves more attention.

Biden barely mentioned COVID-19, other than to say that it “no longer controls our lives” and that soon the administration will “end the public health emergency.”

He also didn’t mention his student loan forgiveness plan that dominated headlines last year and has left millions of borrowers in limbo. The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 28 takes up two of the lawsuits that have prevented the executive action from moving forward.

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These two issues are closely tied and worthy of additional commentary, regardless of the president’s seemingly flippant attitude.

Stop pretending we're still in an emergency

Last month, the Biden administration finally set a date  – May 11 – to end the dual COVID emergencies that have existed since early 2020. The national COVID emergency and the accompanying public health emergency have granted the federal government additional authority and spending powers to combat the pandemic.

At least that’s how it started.

Biden himself acknowledged back in September that the pandemic was “over.” People are back at work and life is pretty much normal again. There’s no need for these emergencies.

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Yet the government is loath to give them up for several reasons.

First, Biden has used the national emergency as the pretense for the student loan cancellation plan. In times of emergencies and war, the government has the power under the 9/11-era HEROES Act to forgive student debt, the administration has argued.

That legislation was never intended for such widespread application, as the law’s authors have written in an amicus brief to the high court, and this is what Republican-led states have claimed in their efforts to stop the forgiveness.

If allowed to move forward, all taxpayers would be stuck covering more than $400 billion in debt over the next three decades that others willingly took on – all through an executive action that Congress didn’t approve.

By announcing the end to the emergencies, however, Biden is admitting that the flimsy justification for the debt plan is going away.

Democrats have used pandemic to implement agenda

It’s not just blanket student loan cancellation that the Biden administration has used the emergencies to justify.

The emergency declarations have also allowed the federal government to continue funding an expanded Medicaid enrollment. In addition, Biden has relied on the continuation of Title 42 in the absence of any other real border policy. Title 42, which was implemented under former President Donald Trump, is a COVID-related public health order that allows for the immediate deportation of migrants who cross the border illegally.

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Even though Biden has said that he doesn’t like the measure, he recently expanded its reach.

This is a significant part of why the president is waiting until May to end the “emergency,” as the administration laid out in a recent letter to Congress. Republicans want an end to the declarations now – not months from now. Biden (rightly) fears even more chaos at the border once Title 42 goes away.

Much like with student loan forgiveness, this is an issue that demands debate in Congress – not makeshift responses that skirt the legislative body.

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Will Biden actually end the emergencies?

The national COVID emergency expires March 1, and a new emergency declaration lasts for a year unless ended sooner by the president. Similarly, the public health emergency must be renewed every 90 days, and the next renewal date is in April.

Both of these emergencies are consequently going to be extended prior to May 11. My concern is that the Biden administration will continue finding excuses to prolong them – not because there remains an actual COVID emergency but because the president has relied too heavily on this power.

And that’s not easy to give up.

Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com or on Twitter: @Ingrid_Jacques 

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden finally ends COVID emergency. Now do student loan forgiveness.