Biden Defeat – Supreme Court Overturns Partial Student Loan Forgiveness Biden Defeat – Supreme Court Overturns Partial Student Loan Forgiveness

Heavy defeat for US President Joe Biden: The US Supreme Court has declared the planned partial cancellation of student loans illegal. The US government has exceeded its powers with this plan, the court ruled on Friday with its right-wing majority. You need the approval of the US Congress to do this. The Supreme Court has thus conceded an important promise from the Democrats. The court’s new decision is now the final blow to Biden — the court had severely curtailed his government’s powers in the past. Biden called the decision wrong.

For months, Biden’s plan to cancel billions of dollars in student loans has been on the cards. Lower courts had blocked him after lawsuits. The US president announced the program last summer, justifying it with the financial burden of Corona – at that time, student loan repayments had already been suspended due to the pandemic. More than 40 million Americans would have benefited from partial student loan forgiveness. The Independent Budget Office of the US Congress estimated that this would have cost about 400 billion dollars (about 366 billion euros).

Biden advocated for a 2003 law authorizing the government to suspend or modify certain student loan repayments in response to a national emergency. The law was passed in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2011. The Supreme Court ruled that the comprehensive debt relief planned by the US government was far too extensive. “The question here is not whether something should be done, but who is authorized to do so is,” the statement of reasons reads. Borrowers are now faced with resuming repayments.

Biden called the court’s ruling incorrect. The partial waiver could have changed the lives of millions of Americans and would also have helped the country’s economic growth, he wrote in a statement. He will leave no stone unturned to find other ways to relieve the hard-working middle class, he promised. “This fight isn’t over yet.” At a later date, he wanted to address the people with a speech.

Only Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that taking into account the skin color or ethnic background of applicants for admission to universities is unconstitutional. The promotion of ethnic minorities under the heading of “affirmative action” should promote diversity among students. The Biden administration and civil rights organizations had strongly criticized the court’s decision.

In the past, the court had significantly limited Biden’s powers – for example, with vaccination regulations against Corona or environmental protection. Republicans now welcomed the Supreme Court decision on student loans. It was a “victory” for the people of America, wrote Elise Stefanik of the Republican leadership committee in the House of Representatives. The court ruled in favor of “our hard-working taxpayers”. (sda/dpa)