The US Supreme Court on Friday struck down President Joe Biden’s student loan debt relief plan. In a 6-3 decision, the court said the Biden administration violated its authority in trying to cancel or reduce the student loans of millions of Americans.
The program, announced in August 2022, aimed to provide relief of up to $20,000 to millions of post-Covid borrowers struggling with outstanding debt. The move would benefit 43 million Americans.
A White House official told Reuters that Biden could announce new actions on Friday to protect student loan borrowers in the wake of the ruling.
Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina challenged Biden’s debt relief. From August 2022 to November, 26 million US borrowers applied for relief.
read | US Supreme Court limits gay rights for Americans, ruling in web designer case
During the hearing, the US top court rejected the Biden administration’s arguments that the student loan relief plan was legally valid under a 2003 law called the Higher Education Relief Opportunity for Students Act, or the HEROES Act. An NBC News report said Chief Justice John Roberts said the language of the Heroes Act was not specific enough.
According to the Heroes Act, the US government can provide relief to student loan recipients when there is a “national emergency”, to act to ensure that people are not “economically worse off” as a result of the emergency.
In her dissenting decision, Justice Elena Kagan said that by ruling against the plan, the court “has overstepped its appropriately limited role in governing our country,” NBC News reports.
“The result is that the Court takes the place of Congress and the executive branch in making national policy regarding student-loan forgiveness,” Kagan wrote.
The Supreme Court’s move is a blow to Biden as tackling student loan debt was a key pledge he made during his 2020 campaign to woo young voters.
Education Loan Information:
Calculate Education Loan EMI
