The Biden administration asked the Supreme Court on Friday to lift lower court orders and to clear the best way for the Education Department to forgive hundreds of thousands of student loans.
At issue is whether or not conservative lower courts can block this system indefinitely.
In August, Biden said the federal government would forgive as much as $20,000 in loans for qualifying borrowers, basing the motion on a 2003 law that granted relief to those affected by war or a national emergency.
Each the Trump and Biden administrations cited the pandemic as a national emergency that justified a pause in loan repayments.
But Republican state attorneys and conservative advocacy groups insisted the president didn’t have the authority to forgive $400 billion or more in outstanding loans.
Acting on a suit brought by six Republican state attorneys, the eighth Circuit Court in St. Louis issued a nationwide order to dam Biden’s loan forgiveness plan. A judge in Texas also declared the plan illegal since the president had exceeded his authority.
Somewhat than wait months for a final ruling, U.S. Solicitor Gen. Elizabeth Prelogar filed an emergency appeal asking the Supreme Court to intervene and put aside the lower court orders. She said the judges had exceeded their authority by issuing broad orders based on a really thin claim of harm.
“The eighth Circuit’s erroneous injunction leaves hundreds of thousands of economically vulnerable borrowers in limbo, uncertain in regards to the size of their debt and unable to make financial decisions with an accurate understanding of their future repayment obligations,” she told the court.
She said the conservative judges ignored the proven fact that there was no evidence the state or individuals would suffer any harm if some students had their loans forgiven.
The justices will likely ask for a response from the opposite side after which determine shortly whether to intervene.
Prelogar suggested that if the justices were uncertain on the law, they might grant review of the case and rule early next yr.
The case is Biden vs. State of Nebraska.
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