Biden Addresses Student Debt Relief Plan After Supreme Court Strikes Down Program

By the end of June, the Supreme Court struck down U.S. President Biden’s Student Debt Relief Plan. However, the Biden administration vowed to fight for the cancellation of student loans despite the decision.

Through U.S. President Joe Biden’s executive order named the HEROES Act, the federal government intended to provide up to $10,000 in Student Debt Relief Plan and up to $20,000 in Pell Grants for individuals who earn less than $125,000 per year.

According to Wulfsohn, the Student Debt Relief Plan canceled almost $430 billion in federal student loans which completely dissolved the balances of 20 million student borrowers. Furthermore, the average amount owed by the other 23 million student borrowers was decreased to $13,600 from $29,400.

In August 2022, Biden pushed for the Student Debt Relief Plan despite objections from the Republicans. The Biden administration accepted around 16 million applications for the Student Debt Relief Plan before the program was put on hold for judicial review.

READ ALSO: Student Debt Relief Plan Borrower Owing $101K Has No Hope For Biden’s New Loan Forgiveness Plan

Oppositions Against the Student Debt Relief Plan

According to Samuels, Republicans argued that Biden did not have the authority to unilaterally cancel student loans. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the Student Debt Relief Plan would cost taxpayers almost $400 billion which Republicans claimed would be unfair to students who paid through college, repaid loans, or those who never attended college.

Nonetheless, on June 30, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that the federal law does not authorize the Student Debt Relief Plan to forgive more than $430 billion in student loans. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts also declared that they agree with the lawsuit filed by the Six States of Arizona, Arkansas, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas claiming that the Heroes Act does not authorize the Student Debt Relief Plan.

READ ALSO: $400 Billion Student Debt Relief Plan Defended By White House Ahead Of Supreme Court Ruling