The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in two cases this month after the Department of Education filed appeals at the circuit court level.
02/09/2023 10:25 A.M.
3 minute read
Lobbying groups and GOP members of Congress in opposition to the Biden administration’s student debt relief plan filed amicus briefs this month ahead of oral arguments in two U.S. Supreme Court cases challenging the plan on Feb. 28.
The Biden administration, with the help of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), appealed legal challenges to its student loan forgiveness plan to the Supreme Court in Biden v. Nebraska and Department of Education v. Brown.
The DOJ is seeking to remove an injunction preventing the plan from moving forward in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit (Biden v. Nebraska) as well as a pause from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in a Texas case that found the plan is illegal (Department of Education v. Brown), ACA International previously reported.
Biden’s plan would reinstate student loan forgiveness for federal borrowers earning less than $125,000 a year, providing up to $10,000 in debt relief.
Opponents of the student debt relief plan have said Biden doesn’t have the authority to enact such relief, rather that it should come from Congress, and that the plan goes against the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students (HEROES) Act of 2003, according to Politico.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is arguing against Biden’s authority to enact the student loan debt relief in an amicus brief (PDF) stating the plan is a “significant exercise of the power of the purse,” according to the article.
The GOP creators of the HEROES Act argue in a brief (PDF) authored by the Pacific Legal Foundation that Congress did not intend the law to allow debt cancellation. On the other side of the fence, former Rep. George Miller, a Democrat with a role in passing the HEROES Act, said in a brief (PDF) that the law does authorize the student loan debt relief in Biden’s plan, Politico reports.
In Congress, more than half of House Republicans are supporting a brief (PDF) stating that the student loan debt relief plan infringes on the role of the legislative branch. Meanwhile, in the Senate, 43 GOP members submitted a similar brief (PDF).
The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) and DOJ lawyers submitted arguments to the Supreme Court in January countering that the lawsuits do not show the student loan debt relief plan causes harm and deny accusations the Biden administration is acting outside of its authority, according to CNBC.
Meanwhile, the DOE has extended the pause on student loan repayment, interest, and collections through June 30, 2023, while the Supreme Court’s hearing of the case proceeds, ACA previously reported.
The DOE reports that borrowers can use the continued payment pause to make sure their contact information is correct with student loan servicers and consider signing up for electronic debit and income-driven repayment plans.
On the legislative front, bill proposals referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce seek to protect federal student loan borrowers when payments resume. The Debt Cancellation Accountability Act of 2023 introduced in the House and Senate would “prevent class-based loan forgiveness for federal student loans under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 without the explicit appropriation of funds by Congress for such purpose.”
Bloomberg reports there is pressure from Congress for the Biden administration to develop a backup for relief if the Supreme Court rules against the current plan.
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