WASHINGTON – For more than four months tens of millions of Americans have waited for a sign about whether President Joe Biden’s $400 billion student loan forgiveness plan is legal or whether it would be struck down by federal courts as a power grab.
The Supreme Court may finally provide some answers Tuesday, though a decision is not expected until later this year.
Over the course of several hours, the nine justices will hear oral arguments in two cases challenging Biden’s plan. The plaintiffs in both assert that the administration exceeded its authority by attempting to grant debt relief to an estimated 40 million people.
Here’s a look at what’s happening at the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court denied student loan challenges before
Before the Supreme Court scheduled arguments in Tuesday’s student loan cases, it had twice before balked at lawsuits challenging the program.
Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett in November denied a challenge to the loan forgiveness program from a conservative legal group on behalf of two people entitled to “automatic” cancellation of their debt. The plaintiffs claimed that the automatic cancellation would create “excess tax liability under state law.”
A month earlier, the court batted away a lawsuit from a Wisconsin taxpayer group.
The reason there are so many lawsuits is that groups opposed to the program have been attempting to find a plaintiff who has standing – in other words, who can demonstrate they are injured by the effort in a way that allows them to challenge it in federal court.
Whether the current plaintiffs have standing will be a central part of the argument Tuesday as well.
– John Fritze
More:Biden will be playing defense on student loans at the Supreme Court. Here’s why.
Biden: ‘I have your back’ on student loans
Biden addressed the student loan litigation briefly during remarks Monday night.
“My administration is making our case to the Supreme Court, and I’m confident the legal authority to carry out that plan is there,” the president said at a White House ceremony celebrating Black History Month. “I promise you. I have your back.”
– Joey Garrison
Plaintiffs: ‘There is a student loan crisis’
The plaintiffs challenging Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan acknowledge that the current student loan system isn’t working. They just don’t think Biden’s plan will fix it.
“There is a student loan crisis in this country,” Karen Harned, chief legal officer for the Job Creators Network Foundation, said on a call with reporters Monday. “But this crisis cannot and will not be solved by the president creating a $400 billion program behind closed doors without any input from Congress or the American people.”
Questions:Is Biden’s student debt forgiveness plan dead?
Rough ride ahead:Biden will be playing defense on student loans at Supreme Court
The group is representing two borrowers: One who didn’t qualify for forgiveness because her loans are held by a private, commercial entity and another who didn’t qualify for the maximum possible relief because he wasn’t a Pell Grant recipient.
Biden’s proposal would wipe away $20,000 worth of debt for borrowers who also used a Pell Grant to pay tuition. Pell Grants are awarded to students from low-income families. He also wants to erase $10,000 in debt for most other borrowers.
– John Fritze
What’s in Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan?
Biden proposed wiping away $20,000 worth of debt for borrowers who also used a Pell Grant to pay tuition. Pell Grants are awarded to students from low-income families. The president also wants to erase $10,000 in debt for most other borrowers.
Only borrowers with an income less than $125,000, or $250,000 for married couples, would be able to have any debt forgiven.
About 26 million people applied for relief before lawsuits stopped the entire program in its tracks. And of those, 16 million were approved to have a portion, or depending on their balance, all their debt erased. For now, applications are closed.
– Nirvi Shah and Chris Quintana
Plan B on student loan forgiveness? White House won’t say.
With many experts predicting President Joe Biden is in for a rough argument Tuesday over his $400 billion student loan forgiveness plan, a natural question has come up repeatedly in recent days: Is there a Plan B if the administration’s effort is ultimately struck down?
Give points to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre for answering the question consistently: “We are very much confident in our legal authority here,” Jean-Pierre told reporters Monday – echoing the answer she gave to the same question Friday. “That’s why our Justice Department has taken it all the way to the Supreme Court.”
Translation: If there is a backup plan, the administration isn’t ready to talk about it. That’s not a surprise, though. A major element of the litigation is whether the administration used the right law to set up the loan forgiveness program. Acknowledging the administration is combing through federal statutes looking for some other way to authorize the program would give ammunition to the plaintiffs on the eve of the arguments.
– John Fritze and Joey Garrison
Blueprint:Find more about options from savings plans to student loans
