FORT WORTH, Texas—On Thursday, a U.S. judge in Texas stopped President Joe Biden’s plan to forgive federal student loans for up to $20,000 each for millions of borrowers. The plan was already on hold while a federal appeals court in St. Louis looked at a separate lawsuit from six states that also challenged it.
District Court Judge Mark Pittman, who is based in Fort Worth and was picked by former President Donald Trump, said that the program took away the power of Congress to make laws.
This country isn’t run by an executive with a pen and a phone who has all the power. “Instead, we are governed by a document called the Constitution, which sets up three separate and independent parts of government,” Pittman wrote.
He also said, “The Court is not blind to the fact that our country is politically divided right now.” But keeping the separation of powers outlined in our Constitution is essential for the survival of our Republic.
Under the plan, people with incomes of less than $125,000 or households with incomes of less than $250,000 would get rid of $10,000 in student loan debt. People who get Pell Grants, who usually have more financial problems, would get an extra $10,000 in debt forgiveness.
NEWS: 8th Circuit temporarily halts Biden admin from “discharging any student loan debt under the Cancellation program” as it weights emergency request to block the debt relief reprogram. pic.twitter.com/0nF193pZtN
— Michael Stratford (@mstratford) October 21, 2022
The cancellation applies to federal student loans and Parent Plus loans that were used to go to college or graduate school.
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The plan to forgive student loans was put on hold on October 21 by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals while it looked into a move by Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Arkansas, and South Carolina to stop the program.
Even though the stay temporarily stopped the government from paying off debt, the White House has told people who owe money to keep trying to get help, saying that the court order did not stop applications or the review of applications.
The Press Secretary for the White House, Said
Karine Jean-Pierre, the press secretary for the White House, said that the administration did not agree with Thursday’s decision and that the Department of Justice had filed an appeal. She said that so far, 26 million people had asked for help with their debt, and 16 million of them had already gotten it. She said that once they won in court, the Department of Education would act quickly to help them.
“The President and this Administration are determined to help to work and middle-class Americans get back on their feet,” she said in a statement. “Our opponents, backed by extreme Republican special interests, have sued to stop millions of Americans from getting much-needed relief.
GOP states ask 8th Circuit to temporarily block Biden’s student debt relief by 9 a.m. Central Time tomorrow — ahead of Sunday, which is earliest Ed Dept has said in court filings that it would begin discharging loans. pic.twitter.com/arPZwxeMY3
— Michael Stratford (@mstratford) October 21, 2022
Due to the legal challenges, it’s not clear if people who thought their debt would be forgiven will have to start making payments again on January 1, when the COVID-19 pandemic will have ended.
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Economists are worried that many people haven’t yet gotten back on their feet financially after the pandemic. They say that if borrowers who were expecting their debts to be forgiven instead have to make payments, many of them could fall behind on their bills and stop paying them.
In his order from Thursday, Pittman said that the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003, or HEROES Act, did not give the Biden administration the permission it said it did for the loan forgiveness program.
The law says that the secretary of education can “waive or change any statutory or regulatory provision applicable to the student financial assistance programs… as the Secretary deems necessary in connection with a war or other military operation or national emergency.”
The Administration Said
The administration said that because the pandemic was a national emergency, student loan relief was allowed as a way to deal with it. Pittman didn’t agree. He thought that a program with so much importance needed clear permission from Congress. He wrote that the HEROES Act “does not give the executive branch clear authorization from Congress to set up a $400 billion student loan forgiveness program.”
Pittman also didn’t agree with the government’s claim that the people who filed the lawsuit didn’t have the right to do so. Plaintiffs Myra Brown and Alexander Taylor both have student loans, but Brown is not eligible for debt relief because her loans are held by a commercial lender, and Taylor is not eligible for the full $20,000 because he did not get a Pell grant.
They argue borrowers wouldn’t be harmed if the court paused debt relief program b/c there’s an ongoing payment pause.
Interestingly, they say Biden could continue the payment pause (also premised on the HEROES Act) “while this appeal is pending.” Currently set to expire 12/31. pic.twitter.com/R7r3ffy2ef
— Michael Stratford (@mstratford) October 21, 2022
The administration said that the loan forgiveness program didn’t hurt them and that their “discontent that some other borrowers are getting more out of it than they are” wasn’t a reason to sue.
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Pittman said they were hurt, though, because the government didn’t let the public weigh in on the program’s eligibility requirements. This meant they didn’t have a chance to weigh in on a program they would be at least partially shut out of.
Politics made it clear that people had different feelings about the decision. Pittman was called a “right-wing federal judge” by the Student Borrower Protection Center “Because of this silly and made-up legal claim, tens of millions of student loan borrowers across the country can’t get the debt relief they need.”
North Carolina Rep. Virginia Foxx, the top Republican on the House Education Committee, was happy about it.
“Another nail has been put in the coffin of President Biden’s illegal student loan bailout, and hardworking taxpayers all over the country are right to be happy, “she told me. “This administration keeps acting as if it has the right to move billions of dollars in student loans around on its own, but the rule of law says it doesn’t.”
