Conservatives justices on the U.S. Supreme Court took aim at President Joe Biden’s plan for canceling some $400 billion in student loans and sticking taxpayers with the bill, implying Congressional approval may be required.
In August, Biden announced that the Department of Education, under Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, would unilaterally cancel up to $20,000 in unpaid loans for 40 million borrowers. The administration claimed the plan legal under the HEROES Act of 2003, enacted during the Iraq war to offer relief to service members and their families by temporarily freezing their student loans during times of war or national emergency.
Chief Justice John Roberts pointed out that in 2020, the high court blocked the Trump administration from unilaterally eliminating the Obama-era DREAMers program, insisting he had to get Congress’ approval. Justice Clarence Thomas said Cardona’s order “runs into Congress’ appropriations authority.”
The issues before the Court in…
