Student loan borrowers braved a cold snap on Tuesday to gather on the steps of the US supreme court as justices inside heard arguments for two crucial cases that could determine the fate of Joe Biden\u2019s giant loan forgiveness program aimed at easing a financial burden for millions of Americans.
\nThe president\u2019s plan to clear up to $20,000 in debt for nearly 40 million student loan borrowers has hit several roadblocks since it was announced in August last year amid staunch Republican opposition that has taken to the courts to block it.
\nThe most notable challengers are six Republican-led states \u2013 Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina \u2013 that claim Biden greatly overstepped his authority by circumventing Congress to enact the debt relief plan now under scrutiny by the nation\u2019s highest court.
\nOther challengers include Myra Brown and Alexander Taylor, two plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit in Texas, arguing that people like them would be harmed by Biden\u2019s loan forgiveness plan since they would not benefit from it. Brown is not eligible for relief under the plan and Taylor is eligible for $10,000 in student debt relief, but not the full $20,000.
\nBut in November, the Intercept reported that Brown, a small business owner, benefited from another pandemic-era loan forgiveness scheme called the paycheck protection program, in which $47,996 of loan debt for her business was forgiven.
\nBiden invoked the 2003 Heroes Act in order to cancel student loan debt, which gives the US secretary of education, Miguel Cardona, authority to make changes to any provision of the law applicable to student aid programs during national emergencies, like the aftermath of 9\/11, or in this case, the Covid-19 pandemic.
\nThe court\u2019s decision that will determine if the debt relief plan can stand is expected from the justices on the 6-3 conservative majority court by late June. The plan, if it stands, could wipe out up to $400bn of student debt.
\nDuring the more than three-hour hearing Chief Justice John Roberts and his conservative colleagues questioned the Biden administration\u2019s lawyer, Elizabeth Prelogar, about its authority to cancel federal student loans because of the pandemic.
\n\u201cIf you\u2019re talking about this in the abstract, I think most casual observers would say if you\u2019re going to give up that much \u2026 money. If you\u2019re going to affect the obligations of that many Americans on a subject that\u2019s of great controversy, they would think that\u2019s something for Congress to act on,\u201d Roberts said.
\nThe main hope for Biden appears to be a slim possibility that the court would find that states and individuals challenging the scheme did not actually have the legal right to sue. One of the conservative justices, Amy Coney Barrett, appeared to some legal observers to be skeptical that the case had standing to be brought before the court.
\nOutside the court, protestors continued their demonstration as the hearing went on.
\nCongresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who represents Texas\u2019s 18th district, told those gathered on the steps of the court: \u201cThe power is in us. We ask for nothing untoward. We ask for nothing that does not lift us up. We ask for what we deserve.\u201d
\nJackson added: \u201cI\u2019m with you, I support you. We are ready to move.\u201d
\nThe progressive Democratic congresswoman Rashida Tlaib said: \u201cWe\u2019re not going to stop. We know the president of the US has every legal authority to cancel debt in our country.\u201d
\nLeaders from organizations like the NAACP, labor unions representing educators and healthcare workers, and other debt relief advocacy organizations also showed up to the rally.
\nMike Pierce, the founder and executive director of the Student Borrowers Protection Center \u2013 one of several advocacy organizations rallying \u2013 said he believed \u201cthe court will side with 40 million people\u201d.
\nOn the rightwing challenges to the loan relief plan, Pierce said: \u201cThis is just another example of Republican officials using the courts to play politics. These are President Biden\u2019s political opponents. Canceling student debt is wildly popular, particularly with President Biden\u2019s base.\u201d
\nHe added: \u201cHis political opponents are going to use every tool they have to try to prevent the president from governing successfully and standing on the side of Americans that are struggling under the weight of unaffordable student debt.\u201d
\nShanna Hayes, 34, was one of those borrowers attending the protest. She is a former math teacher who graduated with a master\u2019s degree in 2015 with over $150,000 in loans. Because she was a Pell grant recipient for part of her education, Hayes might qualify for $20,000 in federal student loan forgiveness.
\n\u201cMy private loans, which we have been paying, you know, since the beginning of time \u2013 that payment is [already] around $430 a month, and that is only on about $30,000 in private loans.\u201d
\nFederal student loan payments are paused while Biden\u2019s plan is in limbo as the court decisions play out. A message prominently displayed at the top of the website of the office of federal student aid says: \u201cThe student loan payment pause is extended until the US Department of Education is permitted to implement the debt relief program or the litigation is resolved.\u201d
\nLike millions of borrowers, Hayes is not making payments on her federal loans right now. For Hayes, who was recently laid off from her job in tech sales, the thought of even more hefty student loan payments every month is distressing. She also said the political fight over debt relief was likely to put off people from trying to go to college if they felt they could not afford it.
\nHayes said: \u201cWe have attempted to do a lot in terms of student access to education and increasing access for students from marginalized communities, but we don\u2019t necessarily support them in those endeavors. And part of that has to do with the amount of student loans that they have to take on to then be able to actually get those opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Theguardian<\/p>\n
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