President Biden said the Supreme Court’s ruling to strike down his student debt forgiveness plan underscores the “hypocrisy” of Republicans, who also championed dolling out billions in pandemic-related loans to businesses.
Mr. Biden also planned to address the nation later Friday about the Supreme Court’s decision, which concluded that the president exceeded his authority with a plan to forgive more than $400 billion in federal student loan debt.
In a statement, Mr. Biden called out Republican elected officials who pushed for the court to invalidate his student loan plan. It was struck down in a 6-3 vote, with the justices coming down on ideological lines.
“The hypocrisy of Republican elected officials is stunning,” Mr. Biden said. “They had no problem with billions in pandemic-related loans to businesses – including hundreds of thousands and in some cases millions of dollars for their own businesses. And those loans were forgiven. But when it came to providing relief to millions of hard-working Americans, they did everything in their power to stop it.”
The president said his plan would be “life-changing” for many Americans and would have stimulated economic growth.
In its ruling, the court rejected the Biden administration’s argument that the plan was lawful under the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act, which says the government can offer to relieve student loans when there is a national emergency.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said the law wasn’t specific enough, saying Supreme Court precedent requires that “Congress speak clearly before a department secretary can unilaterally alter large sections of the American economy.”
The plan would have allowed eligible borrowers to cancel up to $20,000 in debt and would have cost more than $400 billion. It has been blocked since the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a temporary hold in October.
About 40 million Americans would have been eligible for the plan.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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