By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The Supreme Court of the United States on Friday rejected President Joe Biden’s plan to forgive student debt, throwing out the administration’s push to cancel billions of dollars in university education loan.
The apex court ruled that the Biden administration does not have the authority to cancel the debt of millions of Americans.
The split judgement of 6-3 saw the justices of the Supreme Court lean along their idealogical lines, with the conservatives emerging the majority.
This is seen as a dashed hope for millions of borrowers who had anticipated the court’s nod for the relief.
It is also a major policy and campaign promise by the Democratic president seeking reelection ahead of the 2024 elections. Student loan relief has been a top demand for progressives, who argue that college debt is stifling young people’s social mobility and widening the racial wealth gap.
Critics have said it is unfair to those who had already paid for their own education or who chose not to attend college. They also argued that loan forgiveness does not address the root causes of student debt – soaring college costs in the US.
Biden announced his student loan forgiveness programme, which would cancel $10,000 to $20,000 in debt to students and graduates, last August.
Before the debt forgiveness applications became available, lower courts suspended the programme after lawsuits by Republican states.
Supreme court shuddered at the price tag of the debt relief, estimated to be $430bn, saying that the executive branch cannot move forward with the plan without explicit authorisation from Congress.
“Our precedent – old and new – requires that Congress speak clearly before a Department [of Education] Secretary can unilaterally alter large sections of the American economy,” the Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority.
Biden had relied on the HEROES Act, which granted broad economic authorities to the executive branch at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
