The Supreme Court heard oral arguments this week on the Biden Administration’s student loan debt forgiveness proposal. The two cases before the Supreme Court were Biden v. Nebraska and Department of Education v. Brown.
 
During oral arguments, a majority of the justices questioned the Administration’s pandemic-related legal justification for the student loan debt relief proposal. Conservative justices repeatedly questioned whether the Administration had the legal authority it claimed to initiate a broad-based discharge of federal student loan debt to help borrowers recover economically from the national emergency.
 
The Supreme Court is expected to release its decision in June. Until then, the pause on student loan payments remains in effect. Payments will resume 60 days after the Supreme Court announces its decision. If the court has not rendered a decision or resolved the litigation by June 30, payments will resume 60 days after.
 
This issue is becoming more and more political as policymakers either express their support or concern for the debt relief proposal. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, has repeatedly expressed her disdain for the loan relief program most recently saying, “Borrowers signed on the dotted line for their loans. Erasing these loans does not teach borrowers to manage their debts. Moreover, the cancelation is an insult to those who diligently paid off their loans. Further, it will not help student borrowers who enroll in college after debts are wiped clean. Instead, the Biden Administration is forcing the 87 percent of Americans without student debt to pay the bills of college graduates.”
 
On the other hand, Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, expressed his support of the debt relief plan by stating, “… I support President Biden’s student debt relief plan to deliver life-changing support for the borrowers who need it most. In fact, 90 percent of the student loan relief would go to borrowers who make less than $75,000 a year.”
 
Secretary Miguel Cardona said, “Our Administration is confident in our legal authority to adopt this plan, and today made clear that opponents of the program lack standing to even bring their case to court.”
 
Over 25 million applications have been submitted for loan forgiveness, 16 million have already been approved by the Department, and around 8 million borrowers have been identified as not needing an application to receive loan forgiveness.