Biden’s Student Debt Cancellation: Campaigners Warned The President If He Will Not Act!

Campaigners are urging President Joe Biden not to give up on student debt cancellation efforts even if the Supreme Court rules against his plan, Common Dreams reported.

Biden’s Student Debt Cancellation: Campaigners Warned The President If He Will Not Act! (PHOTO:
NBC News)

Biden’s Student Debt Cancellation

In an op-ed for Teen Vogue, Debt Collective organizer Frederick Bell Jr. highlighted alternative legal avenues available to the president. Specifically, he mentioned the “Compromise and Settlement” power in the Higher Education Act of 1965 as a viable option for broad-based student loan cancellation.

This power grants the Department of Education the authority to enforce, pay, compromise, waive, or release any right, claim, lien, or demand related to federal student debt. Progressive lawmakers have also emphasized the need for Biden to explore alternative paths to debt relief.

Bell warned of the potential consequences if the Supreme Court blocks Biden’s debt relief plan. More than 40 million borrowers who were eligible for relief, including 16 million who were informed of their approved applications, could see their loans reinstated.

This would disproportionately affect working-class, young, Black, and Latinx borrowers. Bell emphasized that Biden has a responsibility to deliver promised relief to the 43 million debtors waiting for it.

The Supreme Court is expected to issue its ruling on Biden’s student debt cancellation plan soon. The key dispute in student debt cases revolves around legal standing. The plaintiffs must demonstrate concrete harm from the debt relief program to have standing.

READ ALSO: What If Biden’s Student Debt Relief Block By Supreme Court? Here’s What Biden’s Backup Plan

Biden’s Student Debt Cancellation

One case brought by Republican-led states argues that the plan would harm Missouri’s state-created higher education loan authority, despite an internal analysis contradicting this claim.

The other case, backed by the right-wing Job Creators Network, contends that the plaintiffs would be harmed by their alleged ineligibility for relief. Critics have dismissed this argument as absurd.

Recent rulings by the Supreme Court in other cases have offered hope to proponents of student debt relief, as they indicated a reluctance to significantly alter existing precedent on standing.

Despite skepticism expressed by some justices during oral arguments, there is optimism that fundamentally flawed challenges to student debt relief will be dismissed. Campaigners are urging Biden to pursue alternative avenues for debt cancellation, ensuring relief for millions of borrowers burdened by student loans.

READ ALSO: Biden’s Student Debt Relief Plan Voted To Be Blocked By The House