Courts block Biden's student debt relief plan

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Last week a federal district judge ruled that the Biden administration’s student debt relief plan was unconstitutional, saying President Biden exceeded his presidential authority when he cited COVID-19 as a national emergency to cancel student loan debt for millions of borrowers.  On Monday a U.S. Court of Appeals dealt an additional, and potentially more potent to the White House.
 
The court’s decision essentially blocks debt relief for tens of millions of borrowers from taking effect unless and until the U.S. Supreme Court or the Eighth Circuit overturns itself.
 
The White House plan would have canceled up to $10,000 in debt for Americans earning less than $125,000 and up to $20,000 for those who received a Pell Grant for students from low-income backgrounds.  
 
The administration created the program citing the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students, or HEROES, Act of 2003. The White House said the Sept. 11–era law gave Education Secretary Miguel Cardona the ability to relieve student debts for those affected by a national emergency—in this case the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
But critics and those bringing the various lawsuits challenging the policy have argued that the 2003 act didn’t specifically mention loan forgiveness.
 
Advocates for debt relief and some legal experts questioned the legitimacy of the Court’s ruling and suggested it reflected politics more than sound legal judgment.
 
Two of the three judges on the Eighth Circuit panel were appointed by President Donald Trump and one was appointed by President George W. Bush (as was the district court judge who originally sided with the Biden administration in the Missouri case).