colleges
US Supreme Court overturns partial student loan waiver
For months, Biden’s plan to forgive billions of dollars in student loans has been on hold. Lower courts had blocked him after lawsuits. photo
© Evan Vucci/AP/dpa
The Supreme Court has significantly curtailed the powers of the Biden government. The verdict is particularly harsh for people who have tens of thousands of dollars in student loans to pay back.
Heavy defeat for US President Joe Biden: The US Supreme Court has declared its planned partial waiver of student loans to be illegal. The US government has exceeded its powers with this plan, the court ruled with its right-wing majority on Friday. To do this, you need the approval of the US Congress. The Supreme Court has thus conceded a key promise made by the Democrats. The court’s new decision is now the latest blow to Biden – the court had severely curtailed his government’s powers in the past. Biden called the decision wrong.
Biden argued with a 2003 law that authorizes the government to suspend or modify certain student loan repayments in response to a national emergency. The law was passed in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The Supreme Court ruled that the extensive debt relief planned by the US government is now far too extensive. “The question here is not whether something should be done, but who has the authority to do it,” says the reasoning for the judgment. Borrowers now face having to resume repayments.
Republicans welcome court decision
Biden called the court’s verdict wrong. The partial waiver could have transformed the lives of millions of Americans and would also have been good for 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 is not over yet.” In a speech, he announced that he now intends to implement the partial waiver of student loans on a different legal basis.
Only on Thursday did the Supreme Court rule that taking applicants’ skin color or ethnic background into account for admission to universities was unconstitutional. The promotion of ethnic minorities under the term “affirmative action” should promote diversity among students. Biden’s government and civil rights groups had heavily criticized the court’s decision.
In the past, the court had significantly restricted Biden’s powers – for example with vaccination regulations against Corona or environmental protection. Republicans now welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision on student loans. It was a “victory” for the people of America, wrote Elise Stefanik of the House Republican executive committee. The court decided in favor of “our hard-working taxpayers”.