Supreme Court refuses to block Biden’s student loan forgiveness plans

Justice Amy Coney Barrett denied a Wisconsin taxpayer group’s request to block President Biden’s plan to forgive student loan debt on Thursday.

The group had asked the Supreme Court to halt the administration’s debt forgiveness plan while litigation over the measure proceeds in lower court.

Brown County Taxpayers Association petitioned the high court Wednesday in an emergency request to Justice Barrett, who oversees requests from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, to block the student debt cancellation, saying the program is set to begin Sunday.

“The Biden Administration will start automatically cancelling student-loan debts owed by tens of millions of borrowers. The blow to the United States Treasury and taxpayers will be staggering — perhaps costing more than one trillion dollars,” the group argued in its 29-page filing. “If this program goes forward as planned on Sunday, then the President will unilaterally spend roughly 4% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product.”

The organization’s legal argument was that Congress has the spending power under the Constitution — not the president — so debt forgiveness runs afoul of the separation of powers.

The group lost this month in lower court, where U.S. District Judge William Griesbach, a Bush appointee, said the organization doesn’t have sufficient legal injury to sue.

Justice Barrett rejected the group’s request without referring the matter to the whole court.

In August, the president revealed plans to cancel $10,000 to $20,000 of student debt per borrower for those who earn less than $125,000 a year — or $250,000 for married couples.

The president cited the HEROES Act for supporting his move, which was passed after Sept. 11 and gave the executive branch authority to forgive certain debt regarding the military during emergencies.

The Biden administration says the COVID-19 pandemic is considered an emergency under the law, applying it to student loan borrowers.

The administration faces other legal challenges over the move from advocacy groups, as well as a group of red states seeking to block the forgiveness.