Amy Coney Barrett rejects right-wing challenge to student loan forgiveness
AlterNetOct 20, 2022
On Thursday, SCOTUS refused to hear a Wisconsin taxpayers group’s attempt to block Biden’s student-loan forgiveness program while litigation against the program proceeds in a lower court. Justice Amy Coney Barrett issued the rejection.
Biden’s plan cancels $10K in debt for those earning less than $125K per year, or $250K as a household. Those who received Pell grants can have up to $20K forgiven. The plan is estimated to cost $379-$400B over the life of the program.
There are so many problems with these lawsuits — starting with the fact that under the HEROES Act there’s no denying the Biden admin. has the authority to enact this plan. Then there’s the claim that having to pay taxes is the harmful reason for filing suit, which historically has been rejected by the courts. Republicans are clogging up the courts to stop Biden from celebrating a victory.
One failed attempt to block Biden’s student-loan handout is far from the end of this story. There are several other legal challenges to this program, and eventually one of them will land at SCOTUS, where the 6-3 conservative majority will have its say. American taxpayers shouldn't have to bail out student borrowers.
There's a 90% chance that the US government will forgive $10k of federal student loans per person before 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.