On April 4, 2022, Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett of the US Supreme Court delivers a speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Foundation in Simi Valley, California. hide caption – Damian Dovarganes
switch to caption Michael Dovarganes/AP On April 4, 2022, Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett of the US Supreme Court delivers a speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Foundation in Simi Valley, California.
Michael Dovarganes/AP The Biden administration’s student debt relief program can now proceed, at least for the time being, thanks to the Supreme Court’s decision on Thursday not to halt its implementation. The first day of loan forgiveness is expected to come this Sunday.
The emergency application was sent to Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who is a member of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. The other judges of the court must have concurred with her judgment.
tossed out by a federal district court in Missouri was another highly anticipated challenge to the program, this one launched by six GOP-led states, within hours of the Supreme Court’s decision.
EDUCATION The Brown County Taxpayers Association, a Wisconsin group made up of about 100 tax-paying citizens and business owners who support conservative economic policy, filed the emergency petition with the Supreme Court.
In general, the group contends that by forgiving student loans, the U.S. Department of Education is going outside the bounds of its administrative jurisdiction. The applicants argue that while the Department of Education is granted authority to oversee multiple loan schemes, it is not permitted to “unilaterally” forgive loans. They assert that Congress has this authority.
The Seventh Circuit, where the case is being heard on appeal, will continue to hear this matter. Earlier last month, a federal district court judge dismissed the case on the grounds that the taxpayer group lacked “standing.” In other words, the challengers were unable to establish a personal injury, which is necessary to file a lawsuit, solely as taxpayers. If every federal taxpayer could file a lawsuit to contest any government spending, according to the Supreme Court said from 2007, “the federal courts would cease to be courts of law and would be put in the position of general complaint bureaus.”
EDUCATION The Biden administration announced a student loan relief scheme in August, citing the rising expense of higher education and the COVID-19 pandemic-related economic problems. The debt cancellation program, which is intended for those with low and intermediate incomes, offers recipients of Pell Grants up to $20,000 in debt cancellation and non-recipients of Pell Grants up to $10,000 in debt cancellation. The loan cancellation is just one element of a larger debt reduction package that also calls for lowering undergraduate loan payments and addressing the rising cost of higher education.
Several other conservative organizations have contested the idea. These lawsuits are brewing in several lower courts, but they might have the same problem proving a concrete injury in order to continue.
