U.S. News
Federal judge rules Biden’s student relief program unconstitutional
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
- A federal judge in Texas deemed President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program as unlawful on Thursday.
- U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman stated that the program was an “unconstitutional exercise of Congress’s legislative power.”
- The ruling came after a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had already temporarily blocked the program.
President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program, which was announced in August, was deemed unlawful by a federal judge in Texas on Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump in Fort Worth, wrote in his 26-page ruling that the program was an “unconstitutional exercise of Congress’s legislative power.”
The St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had already temporarily blocked the program as it considers an appeal of a previously dismissed lawsuit by six Republican-led states.
Under the program, individuals earning less than $125,000 a year, or couples earning less than $250,000 a year, will be eligible for up to $10,000 in loan forgiveness. Students with the greatest financial need will be eligible for Pell Grants, which provide an additional $10,000 in relief.
In September, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office calculated that the program would benefit over 40 million people, eliminating about $430 billion of the $1.6 trillion in outstanding student debt.
Pittman ruled that the plan being good public policy is irrelevant because it’s “one of the largest exercises of legislative power without congressional authority in the history of the United States.”
Several conservative state attorneys general and legal groups have taken legal action against the program since its announcement. Until Thursday, plaintiffs have struggled to prove that they were inflicted with enough damage to have the standing to sue.
The plaintiffs, in this case, were two borrowers who were partially or fully ineligible for the debt relief program. They argued that the plan was unlawful and did not follow proper rulemaking processes.
The Biden administration’s relief plan relied upon the HEROES Act, which allows for loan assistance during national emergency situations. But Pittman argued that the 2003 law does not authorize the $400 billion student loan forgiveness program.
He wrote, “In this country, we are not ruled by an all-powerful executive with a pen and a phone. Instead, we are ruled by a Constitution that provides for three distinct and independent branches of government.”
The plaintiffs in the case were backed by a conservative advocacy group, the Job Creators Network Foundation, which was founded by Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus.
The group’s president, Elaine Parker, said that the ruling protects the rights of Americans “to have their voices heard by their federal government.”
Source: Reuters
Roland
November 13, 2022 at 6:49 am
The people that took out these loans are the only ones that should be paying them. They are the ones that made the decision to borrow so they and they alone should pay. Put the education you chose to work and pay what you owe.
Sean Rickman
November 13, 2022 at 11:34 am
The loan forgiveness wasn’t there to help anyone except the democRATS vote buying,and it worked.Too bad for AMERICA.
Connie Mays
November 13, 2022 at 7:56 am
So True. And consider those of us who paid back our loans (like me!) It took me three years, but I paid back every dime. “Borrow” means just that – when you borrow, you pay it back.
Leslie
November 13, 2022 at 2:24 pm
It’s really to bad they forgave the PPP loans that millionaires like Paul Pelosi took out! This was also done to help out dems.
Sure some business needed the help, but they should have been regulated better so that the rich like Pelosi should have had to pay back the many ppp loans he took out instead of using them for more insider trading! Pelosi’s aren’t there for the People of America!
David
November 15, 2022 at 3:05 am
Joe Biden is an idiot I am shocked at how dumb and stupid you have to be to get the top job.
Inas Schmidt
November 15, 2022 at 5:18 pm
I am shocked at the reactions to the loan program. The purpose of the loan forgiveness served many purposes. One of the main purposes was to stimulate the economy though increasing the buying power of young grads. It will help curb inflation, pump money into the economy.
This is not the economy nor the world that federal student loans were created to address. Cost of an education has skyrocketed over the years. After one gets a degree, there is 5 or 6 figure loan to repay. Wages and salaries have not grown. A new grad can not expect to buy a car, start a family or god knows buy a house. That money from grads that used to fuel the economy is going to pay off student loans at an interest rate that is higher than most credit cards.
And the balance doesn’t go down. Banks prey on young people. I have first hand knowledge of that. I tried to talk to my daughter about it, but she assured me the bank officer was really nice and assuring. Who can convince an inexperienced nineteen year old?. My daughter can retire from her teaching job in five years, raised a family and has just now been able to finally pay them off. From that point of view, it is just humane to help them out
Helping them out is not going to raise our taxes. It will not lower them either. That is not how it works. Will our taxes be spent on something more worthy (like paying the whole Trump family exorbitant wages for four years?) In case you are wondering, the answer is no.
Being hateful about this is just about not wanting another person to get something you didn’t get. Its pretty selfish, you know