https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/05/biden-student-debt-relief-supreme-court-00076500?nname=politico-nightly&nid=00000170-c000-da87-af78-e185fa700000&nrid=00000164-b732-dcf2-a7f6-f737e5930000&nlid=2670445
Biden launches defense of student debt relief at Supreme Court
Efforts to cancel debt "fall comfortably" within the law, the DOJ says.
The Justice Department framed the student debt relief program as a logical
way for the Biden administration to wind down the unprecedented pause on
student loan payments that has been in place since March 2020.
The Biden administration determined “that ending that pause without providing
some additional relief for lower-income borrowers would cause delinquency and
default rates to spike above pre-pandemic levels,” the Justice Department
wrote in its brief. “This Court should not compel that damaging and
destabilizing result.”
Both the Republican officials and the conservative group argue that the Biden
administration is using the Covid-19 pandemic as a pretext for circumventing
Congressional approval for a sweeping new program that will cost hundreds of
billions of dollars. They both argue that the program is flatly illegal and
an abuse of authority.
The states argue the debt relief plan will reduce tax revenues or other
funding that is related to state-related entities that own, manage or invest
in federal student loans. A key part of their argument relies on how the debt
relief plan would affect the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority, known
as MOHELA, a loan servicing company created by the state of Missouri
<https://www.politico.com/news/2022/12/17/student-loan-bidens-debt-relief-plan-00074197>.
White House calls GOP effort to block student debt relief ‘unfortunate’
The two loan borrowers from Texas argue they are injured because they were
illegally deprived of the opportunity to provide feedback on the
administration’s plan before it was finalized. They say they would have
advocated for a more expansive program that provides them with more benefits.
The Education Department has approved some 16 million borrowers for loan
forgiveness under the debt relief program, which has been paused by court
orders since the fall. Nearly 10 million additional borrowers are in line for
relief, according to the Education Department.
Biden administration officials have extended the pause
<https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/22/biden-extends-student-loan-payments-pause-00070550>
on federal student loan payments and interest while the Supreme Court
considers the case. The administration has said that payments could remain
suspended through as late as Aug. 30.
