The Supreme Court, divided along ideological lines in a 6-3 vote, invalidated President Biden’s ambitious student loan relief plan on Friday.
The decision was the culmination of a long-delayed effort to fulfill a key promise from the President’s 2020 campaign trail.
The justices determined that the plan, without explicit congressional approval, constituted an unlawful exercise of presidential power.
This, in essence, left the government’s attempts to relieve the financial strain of approximately 43 million American student loan holders in a state of limbo.
The intended plan would have enabled qualified borrowers to cancel up to $20,000 in student loan debt.
The overall cost of this proposal, exceeding $400 billion, had been on hold since October following a temporary injunction by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Student Loan Relief Plan : Impact and Interpretations of the HEROES Act
The court dismissed the Biden administration’s contention that the student loan relief plan was legitimate under a 2003 statute known as the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act, or HEROES Act.
