Education Secretary Miguel Cardona found authority to forgive student loan debt under the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003.
Conservative Supreme Court justices on Tuesday seemed highly skeptical that President Biden has authority from Congress to provide more than $400 billion in student loan forgiveness to borrowers as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Over more than three hours of argument in two cases, conservatives led by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. questioned how what Roberts repeatedly called a “half-trillion dollar” program could be implemented without more direct involvement from Congress, which controls the purse of federal spending.
The justices on the right seemed unsatisfied with assertions from their liberal colleagues and U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar that blocking the program would actually thwart the will of Congress, which provided for the secretary of education to act on student loan debt in times of emergency.
Liberal Justice Elena Kagan noted the court often faces difficulty in trying to understand Congress’s intent in passing legislation. “This one is not,” she said, referring to the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003. She added, “Congress doesn’t get much clearer.”
Roberts said lawmakers should be involved in order for the Biden administration to launch such a broad program: “I think most casual observers would say if you’re going to give up that much amount of money, if you’re going to affect the obligations of that many Americans on a subject that’s of great controversy, they would think that’s something for Congress to act on.”
The court’s conservative justices also expressed concern about the fairness of providing loan forgiveness to some and not to others. Roberts presented a hypothetical scenario involving two high school graduates — one who takes out a loan to attend college and the other who gets a loan to start a lawn care business.
Why is it fair, he asked Prelogar, to require the owner of the lawn service to essentially subsidize through tax payments loan forgiveness for the college graduate, who studies show will earn more money?
“Nobody is telling the person who was trying to set up the lawn service business that he doesn’t have to pay his loan,” Roberts said.
“Why is it fair?” added Justice Samuel Alito. “Why was it fair to the people who didn’t get arguably comparable relief?”
Prelogar, again supported by the court’s trio of liberal justices, said that is what Congress authorized — a law that referred specifically to student loan borrowers, not those who chose to start a business or forego college because of the cost.
