SCOTUS continues to block Biden student loan forgiveness

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to remove a preliminary injunction preventing President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program from going into effect. The Biden administration asked the court to eliminate the stay on the program that the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals imposed last month. Missouri and other states earlier this year challenged the Biden administration’s efforts to cancel student loan debts for some borrowers, saying it would unfairly burden Missouri taxpayers.

Hasn’t the Supreme Court already ruled on this? Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that President Biden lacked the authority to forgive student loans unilaterally under the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003, or HEROES Act. Biden needed Congressional approval to cancel debts using that law, the court said. Just 10 days after the court’s decision, the Biden administration attempted to cancel student loans under the administration’s so-called Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE, Plan. Missouri and other states challenged those efforts in April.

Despite the legal challenges to the administration’s efforts, the Department of Education last month proposed new cuts that would remove even more Americans’ student loan debts. The White House claims it has brought student debt relief to roughly 5 million Americans. If the DOE’s proposed cuts are finalized, the total number of Americans eligible to experience student debt forgiveness at some level would exceed 30 million.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Sift about the DOE’s proposed rate cuts from last month.