Sundance reporting for Conservative Treehouse
Federal education loan payments have been suspended ever since early 2020 when COVID was used as a justification to delay payments. The current extension on the delay, a pre midterm bribe for young adults, runs through June 2023 and then people with the loans have to start paying again.
In the interim, Joe Biden had a plan to relieve up to $10,000 in federal student loans for low-to-middle-income borrowers and up to $20,000 for qualifying Pell Grant recipients. However, that arbitrary Biden decree encountered multiple legal setbacks including rejection by a federal court in St. Louis and another in Texas.
Earlier today, the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals again rejected the Biden administration’s request to pause the Texas order vacating the $400 billion student debt relief program in a lawsuit pursued by a conservative advocacy group. {LINK} The Texas ruling from U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman was one of two decisions that prevented the Department of Education from moving forward.
The St Louis case, also lost on appeal and based on a similar finding that Biden cannot subvert congress for this spending, has now travelled to the Supreme Court who have agreed to hear oral arguments in February but will not intervene to stop the lower court rulings.
Washington — The Supreme Court said Thursday it will take up a court fight between the Biden administration and a coalition of six Republican-led states challenging the legality of the president’s student loan forgiveness program.
Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar asked the Supreme Court last month to lift an injunction from a federal appeals court that blocked implementation of the plan, but told the court that if it denied relief, it should agree to consider the merits of the case instead.
The court said in a brief order that it will hear arguments in February but will keep the program on hold for now. Last week, President Biden extended his pause on federal student loan payments until June 30, 2023, to give the court time to consider the dispute.
“We welcome the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case on our student debt relief plan for middle- and working-class borrowers this February,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. “This program is necessary to help over 40 million eligible Americans struggling under the burden of student loan debt recover from the pandemic and move forward with their lives. The program is also legal, supported by careful analysis from administration lawyers.” (more)
In response to the decision from the Texas court, the Biden administration announced it had stopped accepting applications for the debt relief program.
