The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday against President Biden's attempt to reinstate student loan benefits, at least for now.
The Supreme Court rejected a request by the Harris-Biden administration's Department of Justice to lift an injunction issued by a lower court that halted the write-offs while a lawsuit challenging the plan works its way through the judicial system.
” [Supreme] “The court expects the appeals court to rule with appropriate urgency.” The short, unsigned order reads:There were no particular objections.
Seven Republican-led states have filed a lawsuit to block President Biden's Savings for a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan, the president's latest attempt after the Supreme Court rejected his attempt to cancel hundreds of billions of dollars in federally held student loan debt in 2023 under the HEROES Act.
The SAVE plan reduces monthly income-based repayments from 10% to 5% of a borrower's disposable income, and under the plan, no repayments are required for borrowers whose income is below 225% of the federal poverty line ($32,800 per year for a single person).
Opponents argue the plan, which could cost up to $475 billion, is an unconstitutional bailout package and amounts to bribe money to young and college-educated voters, key Democratic bases.
Two separate lawsuits against the SAVE program are currently in court. In June, judges in Kansas and Missouri each ruled to block much of the government's plan, without affecting debts that had already been forgiven under the plan.
The Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled July 1 to allow the Education Department to move forward with a provision allowing lower monthly payments.
On August 8, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis issued an injunction putting the entire plan on hold.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona denounced the ruling, saying it “repeated a 30-year-old practice of loan forgiveness.”
The Department of Education estimates that about 4.7 million Americans have had their debt forgiven up to $168 billion so far.
