Supreme Court Justices Skeptical of Debt Relief
Katherine Knott
March 1, 2023
They questioned the Biden administration’s authority to forgive student loans but also seemed suspicious of arguments from plaintiffs that they have standing to challenge the debt-relief plan.
Several Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical of the Biden administration’s plan to forgive up to $20,000 in federal student loans during a nearly four-hour hearing Tuesday.
As expected, the hearing focused on whether federal statute allows the Biden administration to forgive student loans, whether the plaintiffs have standing to challenge the plan and whether the justices should apply a stricter standard in their review of the two lawsuits before the court.
The court’s six conservative justices homed in on questions of fairness and what Congress intended when it authorized the education secretary in 2003 to “waive” or “modify” provisions of student loan programs to ensure that those affected by a national emergency aren’t worse off financially.
