The question is: Did President Joe Biden have the authority to cancel student debt for millions of borrowers? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said “The president can’t do it. That’s not even a discussion.” Sens. Chuck Schumer and Elizabeth Warren said, “Yes.” The CATO Institute indicated a court challenge was likely.
On Tuesday, The Pacific Legal Foundation formally filed suit against the Biden administration — charging that the administration’s plan to cancel up to $10,000 in student debt for millions of debtors is illegal.
President Biden argued he has the authority to forgive student debt under the 2003 HEROES Act, which offered loan forgiveness programs to those serving in the military in war theaters.
Biden effectively extended the student loan forgiveness offer to everyone making less than $125,000 a year.
Plaintiff Frank Garrison of the Pacific Legal Foundation argued in a complaint that President Joe Biden’s use of the HEROES Act was inappropriate and took place with “breathtaking informality and opacity.”
Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Caleb Kruckenberg said in a statement:
“Congress did not authorize the executive branch to unilaterally cancel student debt. It’s flagrantly illegal for the executive branch to create a $500 billion program by press release, and without statutory authority or even the basic notice and comment procedure for new regulations.”
The complaint also noted that the Department of Education “failed to comply with the ‘notice-and-comment process required for rulemaking’ when charting the debt cancellation policy and did not ‘solicit any public input,'” according to The Daily Wire.
Pacific Legal Foundation senior attorney Steve Simpson added:
“Cancelling student debt is unjust to those who have paid their loans or never took any. It will only lead to more calls for government intervention in education at taxpayers’ expense. Loan cancellation will make Americans more divided, as those who paid their loans — or never went to college — will have good reason to think that we no longer have a government of, by, and for the people.”
It is not clear if Biden’s announced plan to extend the pause on federal student loan repayment to January 2023 or if the plan to cap payments at 5% of one’s monthly income will be impacted by this challenge.
The initial cost estimate for eliminating $10,000 of student loans per borrower was $298 billion in 2022 and a total of $329 billion by 2031. However, most recent cost estimates place the price tag at $400 billion.
The Pacific Legal Foundation contends the student loan cancellation initiative is an “election year ploy.”
Scroll down to leave a comment and share your thoughts.