The Biden administration has just disclosed additional information about a student loan forgiveness proposal that is currently in the works.
The new endeavor is intended to replace the student debt relief program that was overturned by the Supreme Court in June. President Biden immediately announced the creation of a “Plan B” for student loan forgiveness in the aftermath of that decision. Unlike the initial plan, however, this new scheme would take months to establish.
Here’s the most recent.
Biden’s earlier plan would have eliminated $10,000 in federal student loan debt for millions of borrowers, and up to $20,000 for those who received Pell Grants. The plan was authorized by the government under the HEROES Act of 2003, which permitted the Education Department to bypass the typical regulatory procedure required for the formation of most programs, and it was promptly implemented when it was originally announced.
However, Republican-led court challenges brought the campaign to a halt before any student loans were erased under the proposal. The Biden administration filed an appeal, and the Supreme Court agreed to hear two of the cases. The Court’s conservative majority, however, struck down the program in a 6-3 decision in June, concluding that Congress did not intend or authorize such broad student loan relief when it passed the HEROES Act, despite the statute’s broad language allowing the Education Department to “waive” or “modify” nearly any provision of federal student loan regulations in response to a national emergency.
In reaction to the verdict, the Biden administration announced that authorities will begin constructing a new student loan forgiveness plan under a different statute, the Higher Education Act. “The Court has closed one path today, but we’re working on another,” Biden remarked at the time.
