President Joe Biden‘s request for a US Federal Court to reverse a prior decision that prevented the implementation of his significant student debt relief programme was denied, potentially setting up a Supreme Court clash as the White House pursues additional appeals.
On Wednesday, a three-judge panel at the US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit denied the administration’s most recent appeal and upheld an earlier decision to put an end to the debt forgiveness programme.
In a previous decision, District Judge Mark Pittman ruled in favour of two plaintiffs who claimed the programme was illegal and did not adhere to “proper rulemaking processes,” saying Biden’s proposal to cancel billions of dollars in student debt was a “unconstitutional exercise of Congress’s legislative power.”
The 5th Circuit Court ordered that Biden’s appeal be reviewed more quickly even though it declined to overturn Pittman’s ruling on Wednesday.
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The Department of Education is now prohibited from moving forward with the debt scheme by an injunction issued by the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which is situated in St. Louis. This prompted the Biden administration to submit yet another appeal with the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court may hear an appeal of Wednesday’s decision even though it is still considering the request, and it may choose to merge the two linked cases.
Last August, Biden announced that the government would forgive up to $10,000 in student loans for borrowers making less than $125,000 per year, while some lower-income students who received college grants could have up to $20,000 in debt erased. Biden had frequently mentioned student debt relief while running for president in the 2020 election. The Congressional Budget Office predicted the programme might cost up to $400 billion if 26 million Americans applied for student loan forgiveness.
