Supreme Court Leaves Biden Student-Loan ‘Forgiveness’ on Hold, Agrees to Hear Case
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The Supreme Court said Thursday it will leave President Biden’s student-loan “cancellation” program on-hold and that it will hear oral arguments in the case in February 2023.
In October, a federal appeals court temporarily blocked the student loan “forgiveness” plan. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit granted an administrative stay in response to a challenge to the order by a coalition of six Republican-led states.
The administration asked Justice Brett Kavanagh, who is responsibly for handling emergency applications arising from 8th Circuit cases, to lift the injunction last month. In an order on Thursday, the Court said consideration of the request to lift the injunction is “is deferred pending oral argument.”
A federal judge in Texas also blocked Biden’s student-loan “forgiveness” plan last month in response to a lawsuit from the Job Creators Network Foundation (JCNF). The conservative advocacy group filed a suit in October arguing that the Biden administration violated federal procedures by not allowing borrowers to provide public comment before the program was unveiled.
Judge Mark Pittman of the Northern District of Texas called the plan an “unconstitutional exercise of Congress’s legislative power” and noted the program failed to go through standard regulatory processes.
“No one can plausibly deny that it is either one of the largest delegations of legislative power to the executive branch, or one of the largest exercises of legislative power without congressional authority in the history of the United States,” Pittman wrote in a 26-page opinion.
Biden planned to “forgive” up to $10,000 in federal student debt for those making under $125,000 annually and households making under $250,000, as well as relieving $20,000 in debt for Pell grant recipients. The executive action would transfer the cost of the loans to the American public.
