On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that President Joe Biden’s controversial executive order to forgive millions of student loans exceeded the powers of the President as enumerated by the Constitution.
The Biden administration had argued before the Court that it had acted lawfully as the COVID-19 global pandemic meant that the President had the unilateral right to cancel student loans as part of its emergency response. They also cited a 2003 law called the HEROES Act, passed during the Iraq War. The Court rejected the administration’s arguments in a 6-to-3 ruling Friday in Biden vs. Nebraska.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, “The HEROES Act allows the secretary to ‘waive or modify’ existing statutory or regulatory provisions applicable to financial assistance programs under the Education Act, but does not allow the secretary to rewrite that statute to the extent of canceling $430 billion of student loan principal.”
When President Biden was running for office in 2020, he promised student loan forgiveness to motivate young people to vote for him over then-incumbent President Donald Trump. Even though Democrats controlled both Houses of Congress for his first two years in power, Biden could not pass student loan forgiveness through Congress, so he opted for the legally dubious step of doing it by executive fiat. The Supreme Court, in Friday’s ruling, rejected that effort.
Congresswoman Terri Sewell, a Biden loyalist, released a statement in response to the Supreme Court’s decision.
“Today, the Supreme Court has chosen to side with Republican state officials who would rather score political points against President Biden than help hard-working Americans being crushed by student loan debt. To say that I am disappointed would be an understatement,” Rep. Sewell said. “In light of this terrible decision, I am calling on my colleagues in Congress to take action to combat the student debt crisis and make higher education more affordable for our students.”
U.S. Senator Katie Britt voiced her support for the Court’s decision.
“Hard work and personal responsibility are at the heart of the American Dream,” Britt said on Twitter. “As we knew all along, the Biden Administration’s student loan debt transfer scheme was unfair, unjust, and unlawful. I was proud to join @SenateGOP colleagues on an amicus brief in this important case.”
Congressman Barry Moore also released a statement in support of the Supreme Court ruling.
“The Supreme Court just declared Biden’s student loan giveaway unconstitutional,” Rep. Moore said on Twitter. “Huge victory for American taxpayers, who would have been forced to foot the bill of $400 billion over the next 30 years.”
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