Supreme Court strikes Biden’s student loan waiver

The Supreme Court has overturned President Joe Biden’s $400 billion student loan forgiveness plan in another bombshell decision.

The judges ruled 6-3. Biden’s controversial plan to wipe out the debts of 26 million Americans at taxpayers’ expense was unconstitutional and an overstepping of his executive powers.

The landmark ruling on the last day of the Supreme Court’s term comes 24 hours after the justices decided that colleges could no longer use race as a consideration in admissions in a case that drew opposition from Biden.

The plan would have wiped out $10,000 in debt for borrowers earning less than $125,000 and up to $20,000 for those with Pell Grants.

But it was challenged by six Republican states and two borrowers who argued that Biden should have sought congressional approval for a plan using significant tax dollars.

Chief Justice John Roberts agreed, saying a move “requires Congress to speak clearly before a Secretary of the Department (of education) can unilaterally change large parts of the American economy.”

Millions of Americans have not had to pay back their loans for three and a half years due to a COVID pandemic freeze. Borrowers will have to resume their payments in October and interest will begin to accrue in September.

Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan has been stalled in a legal battle since November

Biden’s loan forgiveness has been a cornerstone of his presidency, and the ruling will be a huge blow to the administration that has battled with mounting debt.

For months, Biden’s blueprint for student loans has been at the center of a legal battle involving six Republican-controlled US states and two borrowers.

Iowa, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina said he had no legal authority to proceed with the plan without Congressional approval first.

Biden used the post-9/11 HEROES Act as justification for the program. It provides that the Department of Education may grant student debt forgiveness during a national emergency.

In May, the COVID national emergency came to an end in the eyes of the government.

The program has been suspended since November after a federal appeals court in St. Louis issued an injunction suspending applications and disbursements.

That forced the US government to seek the intervention of Supreme Court judges.

The six conservative judges expressed skepticism about the plan during oral arguments in February and gave an initial indication of their decision.

Announced last August, the government promised to forgive about $10,000 in federal student debt for students earning less than $125,000.

Officials also pledged to contribute an additional $10,000 for students who received so-called Pell Grants.

These financial aid payments are awarded to students with exceptional financial needs.

But most Republicans say those who took out loans should pay them back without bailouts.

They have also argued that taxes paid by Americans who did not attend college should not be used to fund those who did.

The Supreme Court was asked to rule on the settlement after a federal court issued an order to freeze the pardon plan

Donald Trump froze student loan payments in March 2020 as Covid-19 spread worldwide.

They will start again at the end of August as part of the recent debt ceiling agreement between the administration and Congress.

Last week, the US Senate passed a motion to withdraw Biden’s loan forgiveness plan, but the president has already said he will veto it.

According to the Ministry of Education, more than 26 million people have already signed up for the program, with as many as 16 million provisionally approved for debt relief.

Student debt is the second largest form of consumer debt in the US, behind mortgages and other home loans.

rural, 45 million Americans owe $1.6 trillion in borrowed money they used to pay for their college education.