WASHINGTON − President Joe Biden plans to announce “new actions to protect student loan borrowers,” the White House said Friday, after the Supreme Court overturned his signature program to eliminate up to $20,000 in student loan debt for millions of Americans.
The court’s 6-3 decision along ideological lines dashed the hopes of 26 million people who applied for student loan cancellation since Biden took the action last August, putting pressure on the Biden to find other ways for debt relief.
“This fight is not over,” Biden said in a statement. “I will have more to announce when I address the nation this afternoon.”
A White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said although the White House strongly disagrees with the court’s decision, “we prepared for this scenario.”
“I believe that the court’s decision to strike down our student debt relief plan is wrong,” Biden said. “But I will stop at nothing to find other ways to deliver relief to hard-working middle-class families. My administration will continue to work to bring the promise of higher education to every American.”
Advocates of debt relief for student loan borrowers urged Biden to act immediately following the court’s decision.
“The Biden administration must use all other legal tools at their disposal to deliver student debt relief and fulfill his campaign promise,” said Braxton Brewington, spokesperson for the Debt Collective, a coalition of loan borrowers. “It won’t be acceptable for Biden to point to the Supreme Court as the reason he can’t deliver on relief − he’ll need to fight every step of the way.”
For months, the White House publicly resisted calls from liberal constituency groups to come up with a Plan B for student loan debt in anticipation of the conservative-majority court striking down Biden’s action on student loans.
Even when a majority of Supreme Court justices expressed deep skepticism over Biden’s plan during oral arguments in March and − signaling they would rule against the president − the White House refused to discuss a potential alternative.
The Supreme Court ruled that Biden overstepped his executive authority when he bypassed Congress to wipe out $400 billion in student loan debt by citing a provision in the 2003 HEROES Act that allows the education secretary to “waive” or “modify” student loans during a national emergency.
What else could Biden do to forgive student loan debt?
Biden’s action sought to forgive $10,000 for all borrowers federal student loan borrowers and up to $20,000 in debt relief for low-income Pell Grant recipients. The debt cancelation was only available to borrowers with annual incomes less than $125,000 or from households earning $250,000 or less.
“Student loan relief is a promise from President Biden to more than 40 million families. It is our chance for dignity,” said Melissa Byrne, executive director of We The 45 Million, which has pushed for debt cancelation. “He must immediately implement a plan B including finding a different path to ensure no repayment begins until cancellation is delivered.”
The sure-fire way legally to achieve the same goal – forgiving up to $20,000 in student loan debt for low- and middle-income households – would be for Congress to act.
But Biden lacks the votes for legislative action.
Both bodies of Congress − including the Democratic-controlled Senate − voted to repeal Biden’s student loan forgiveness action, forcing the veto pen of Biden to keep his plan alive before the court’s decision.
Some legal experts have argued Biden could propose a narrower plan that still invokes the HEROES Act, although it likely would have a significantly smaller reach.
Others have argued Biden could turn to the Higher Education Act of 1965, which Biden and past administrations have cited to provide student loan debt relief to certain categories of borrowers such asteachers and the disabled.
The White House has touted its previous efforts to cancel debt through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. However, the Biden has only used this method to provide relief to borrowers working in the public sector.
Instead, Biden might have to revert to smaller steps.
For example, alongside the debt forgiveness plan, Biden introduced a new program designed to more directly tie borrowers’ monthly loan payments to their income. The plan, which is still going through the Education Department’s regulatory process, would reduce some borrowers’ payments to 5% of their discretionary income.
Supporters of Biden’s debt forgiveness plan warned that the court’s decision, while a setback for loan borrowers, will only motivate young voters in the 2024 election.
“President’s Biden plan was a historic action that would have provided life-changing relief to young people,” said Tzintzún Ramirez, president of NextGen America, a progressive advocacy group for young voters. “Instead, Republican and partisan forces worked to obstruct this relief – and we know that young voters will remember this come 2024.”
Reach Joey Garrison on Twitter @joeygarrison.
