- Biden’s administration has asked the Supreme Court for permission to revive its student-debt relief program.
- It came after a decision of the 8th Circuit, which ruled that relief will be paused.
- Dozens upon dozens of experts and advocates submitted briefs supporting the request.
Millions of student-loan borrowers still wait for the nation’s highest courts to decide if President Joe Biden can make progress on his debt relief.
Dozens of of legal experts, economists, and advocates laid out why it can — and should.
Biden announced that federal borrowers who earn less than $125,000 a year would be eligible to forgo up to $20,000 of student debt. But, the rollout of this plan has not been seamless. Many conservative-backed lawsuits were filed to stop the policy. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on November 14. ruledThe October temporary pause on relief will continue indefinitely. Six Republican-led States filed a lawsuit against the government claiming relief would reduce their state’s tax revenues.
Biden’s Justice Department swiftly appealed to the 8th Circuit’s decision, and took the matter to Supreme Court. AskOn November 18, it was authorized to revive the student loan forgiveness plan. Although it is not clear when or what the highest court will decide, 44 scholars, economists and legal experts joined the fight of the Biden administration. Amicus curiae briefsBefore Thanksgiving, support the revival of debt relief.
“As this country works out the COVID-19 pandemic,” Persis Yu (deputy executive director, managing counsel at Student Borrower Protection Center), said in a release. The collective Amici are helping borrowers to survive the financial chaos caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and broken student loan system.
Karine Jean-Pierre, White House Press secretary, expressed confidence that the administration would prevail in a BriefingMonday. “We are confident that we have the right legal standing to do so, if needed. It’s up the Supreme Court. We’ll continue to fight. She said, “That will not end.”
Here are the main arguments used by advocates and experts to justify the Supreme Court’s reinstatement of Biden’s student debt cancellation plan.
Under the HEROES Law, relief is allowed
The HEROES Act was used by Biden’s administration to allow broad student-debt relief. This law allows the Education Secretary to modify or waive student-loan debts when there is a national emergency such as COVID-19. But all of the conservative lawsuits seeking to block the relief have argued that the loan forgiveness is an overreach of the authority and should require Congressional approval.
Eleven legal scholars contributed to their Short that the Act appropriately justifies the waiver of student-loan balances — and the COVID-19 national emergency has already been used as a reason to provide student-debt relief in the form of the continued extension of the student-loan payment pause.
“The Republicans’ apparent intuition that temporary emergencies just justify temporary relief would have a curious constraint on government actions; after all the federal government does no ask disaster victims for other forms financial assistance provided to aid with recovery from a disaster such as funds for housing or home repair or energy subsidies or funeral costs,” the brief said.
Insider also offers this feature. Previous reports that former Rep. George Miller — an architect of the HEROES Act — also filed a brief to the Supreme Court explaining why the debt relief falls “exactly” under the Education Secretary’s authority.
The pandemic continues to impact on Borrowers
Although many Republican legislators have said that Biden should not continue to use the pandemic to justify continuing debt relief, 11 economists and sociologists wrote in their ShortThe pandemic is enough reason to grant loan forgiveness.
According to the brief, “The COVID-19 Pandemic was a serious national disaster that was unprecedented in this century and has negatively affected recent college graduates. Its effects on those graduates are expected to persist for many decades.”
The report stated that borrowers would have greater difficulty repaying their loans if the pandemic never occurred. An additional ShortRandi Weingarten (AFT President) filed this petition. She also noted that many teachers, healthcare workers and other professionals have left their fields during the crisis. AFT debt cancellation will help to ensure that millions of student borrowers are not worse off due to the catastrophic COVID-19 pandemic.
It is the greatest relief for those who are most in need
21 advocacy organizations submitted their statements in Short, Biden’s debt relief plan is specifically targeted to borrowers who need it most — only Pell Grant recipients are eligible to receive the full $20,000 in relief, and the income cap on any relief stands at $125,000 per year.
“By providing an additional $10,000 in cancellation for borrowers who received a Pell Grant, the Department ensured that borrowers from the lowest income backgrounds – and who are historically at the highest risk of default – obtain the greatest benefit,” the brief said.
Legal scholars provided a brief explaining how debt relief was appropriate and legal for low-income borrowers. They stated that students with student debt are more likely to suffer the worst effects and risk of falling behind in their payments.
