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President Biden’s student loan plan will get its final shot at victory Tuesday at the Supreme Court when the majority-conservative court prepares to hear arguments that will determine the fate of up to $20,000 in debt relief for millions of Americans.
The showdown between the Biden administration and the two groups of challengers to the president’s plan has been building for months, with many protesters having camped outside the court ahead of today’s session, which begins at 10 a.m.
U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar in back-to-back oral arguments will attempt to fend off a group of six GOP-led states, represented by Nebraska Solicitor General James Campbell, followed by a separate challenge from two individuals.
Here are five top questions heading into oral arguments.Did Congress speak clearly enough to give authority to forgive the debts?
Challengers will argue that Congress did not speak clearly enough in the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students, or HEROES Act to authorize the debt forgiveness.
The law gives the education secretary the authority to “waive or modify” federal student financial assistance programs when deemed necessary in connection with a national emergency. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona has tied the relief to the emergency established during the pandemic.
But the challengers say the plan invokes the “major questions” doctrine, which requires Congress to speak clearly when authorizing agency actions of great economic and political significance. The justices have cemented the doctrine by using it to strike down three agency actions in recent years.
“The Biden administration student loan bailout is a textbook case for the major questions doctrine,” said Karen Harned, chief legal officer for Job Creators Network Foundation, a conservative advocacy organization backing the individual challengers.Will Nancy Pelosi’s previous doubts on Biden’s authority haunt Democrats?
Then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.
