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Supreme Court hears arguments on Biden student loan plan

Biden administration being sued by Nebraska and various states for invoking student loan forgiveness plan.

Photo by Got Credit on Flickr / CC BY 2.0

The Supreme Court held oral arguments over President Joe Biden’s plan to cancel student loans in two separate hearings on Tuesday.

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar debated that the Biden administration takes its justification regarding the student loan forgiveness program from the HEROES Act of 2003.

Under the HEROES Act, the Secretary of Education can “waive or modify rules” pertaining to federal student loan programs in “national emergencies.”

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was declared a national emergency by then-President Trump, thereby suspending payments for American students with federally held loans.

During the hearing, Prelogar noted that court decisions to invoke the HEROES Act had previously been made by bipartisan secretaries from both administrations.

At the same time, Nebraska and multiple other states argued that Biden’s loan-forgiveness plan and the conditions used to justify it lack connection to the COVID-19 emergency.

More than 40 million are eligible for debt relief under the plan. 26 million have applied so far, with 16 million applications accepted.

Sources (3)

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www.supremecourt.gov
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION V. MYRA BROWN
www.supremecourt.gov
JOSEPH R. BIDEN V. NEBRASKA
www.naag.org
Supreme Court Report: Biden v. Nebraska, 22-506