Students who have borrowed money are waiting to see for how long they’ll be granted relief from debt under Biden’s student loan forgiveness program following a federal judge from Texas rejected the program Thursday, declaring it unconstitutional.
The Department of Justice immediately appealed to the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals. However, the case has to be resolved in order for the Biden administration is able to end the federal loan obligations that is owed under the program.
Although it is true that the Biden administration has had to face a number of legal issues with students’ loan forgiveness programs since the program was launched back in the summer, this decision on Thursday represents the biggest setback so that time, causing officials at the Department of Education to stop accepting debt relief applications.
Biden’s campaign was already suspended because of an additional legal issue however the administration accepted applications and had received 26 million applications to date.
According to the regulations for the scheme, borrowers with low or middle incomes are eligible to get up to $10,000 in Federal student loan repayment. They can also receive up to $20,000 of cancellation if they have also were awarded the Pell grant while in the college.
The legal process ahead of us is unclear, but it could take a long time for the dispute to be settled.
This Texas ruling “makes it more likely that the issue will ultimately go to the Supreme Court, though it is still too early to say,” said Abby Shafroth, staff attorney at the National Consumer Law Center.
What does the future hold for the borrowers?
The borrowers will have keep an eye on the appeal of the government before the 5th Circuit Court to play out. Although it is difficult to stay on top of the many legal battles, borrowers are able to sign up for email information through the Department of Education and check the Federal Student Aid website for more details.
The process could last for months before the court issues an official decision. If it reverses an earlier ruling of the Texas lower court’s decision, it could mean that the Biden administration may begin to cancel student loans.
However, it is possible that the Department of Justice could also request an urgent stay on Texas judge’s ruling. If granted – and another appeals court terminates its temporary stay of the plan in a different proceeding case, then the administration will be able to end the debt before an official decision is rendered in the 5th Circuit.
Initially the Biden administration announced that it will begin to grant student loan forgiveness prior to when payments begin in January following a long paucity of the pandemic.
However, Thursday’s ruling in Texas places that timeframe in danger.
“For the 26 million borrowers who have already given the Department of Education the necessary information to be considered for debt relief – 16 million of whom have already been approved for relief – the Department will hold onto their information so it can quickly process their relief once we prevail in court,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a statement on Thursday.
“We strongly disagree with the District Court’s ruling on our student debt relief program,” she stated.
Which legal argument is the most persuasive?
It is believed that the Biden administration has claimed that Congress gave the secretary of education ability to discharge students in large quantities loans in a law dubbed the HEROES Act which was enacted in the aftermath of 9/11. 11 attack on the United States.
The lawyers for the government argue that the law permits the secretary to pay off any debt in the instance of a national emergency, which includes the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, an Texas federal judge ruled that the law doesn’t give the executive branch a with a clear authorization from Congress to institute the student loan forgiveness program.
“The program is thus an unconstitutional exercise of Congress’s legislative power and must be vacated,” said the judge Mark Pittman, who was nominated by the then-President Donald Trump.
“In this country, we are not ruled by an all-powerful executive with a pen and a phone,” said the president.
The Texas lawsuit was brought by a conservative organization called The Job Creators Network Foundation, in October, on behalf of two borrowers who didn’t meet the criteria for debt relief.
One plaintiff was not eligible for the program to forgive student loans due to the fact that her loans aren’t being held in the hands of federal authorities. another plaintiff was entitled to $10,000 of debt relief since the plaintiff did not receive an Pell grant.
They argued that they couldn’t not express their displeasure with the program’s regulations since the administration didn’t go through an official notice-and-comment-rule-making process as required by the Administrative Procedure Act.
“This ruling protects the rule of law which requires all Americans to have their voices heard by their federal government,” said Elaine Parker, president of Job Creators Network Foundation, in a statement on Thursday.
The group’s advocacy was started in the name of Bernie Marcus, a major Trump donor and the former Home Depot CEO.
What are the other lawsuits that are?
Outside of the Texas case beyond the Texas case Biden administration is also facing a number of other lawsuits related to the student loan forgiveness program.
A case brought by six states with Republican governors is in the process at the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals. On the 21st of October, that appeals court placed an administrative stop to the program, preventing the administration from resolving any debt.
The states have argued that Biden administration is not legally qualified to grant legally-authorized authority to provide large-scale student loan forgiveness and that the program could harm their finances for a variety of reasons. A lower court dismissed the case, stating that the state did not have the legal right to bring suit. The state immediately appealed in the 8th Circuit.
Biden administration has had a number of wins. Biden administration has scored a number of victories in court to date in the case of plaintiffs who have had to fight to prove they are entitled to bring a lawsuit.
One suit, brought by an Wisconsin taxpayers’ organization and was dismissed by a federal trial judge who ruled that the group was not able to file the lawsuit. Plaintiffs had argued against the plan to grant loan forgivens, estimated to cost around $400 billion, could be detrimental to taxpayers as well as also the US Treasury. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett was also against the taxpayers’ request to that the Supreme Court to intervene.
A different instance, that was dismissed in the court of Barrett as well as dismissed by the lower court was brought by a person who argued that the upcoming loan forgiveness will result in higher state tax bills. A few states might tax forgiven debt, however it’s not tax-deductible on a federal scale.
The Biden administration also faces ongoing lawsuits of the state’s GOP Attorney General Mark Brnovich and the Cato Institute which is a think tank. Both lawsuits claim that the president doesn’t possess the authority legally required to end students’ loans.
Brnovich claims that the state is entitled to sue since the program for student loan forgiveness could affect Arizona’s tax revenues. The state code doesn’t count the loan forgiveness as tax-deductible income.
The Arizona lawsuit further argues that the forgiveness policy could hinder the attorney general’s capability to find employees. The office’s employees could be eligible for Federal public service loan forgiveness Program, however, some prospective job applicants might not consider that an advantage if their student loan debt has already cancelled, the suit asserts.
The Cato Institute makes a similar argument regarding the forgiveness program, which makes it difficult to find employees.
Who is qualified for forgiveness of student loans?
If the Biden program is approved individuals who earned less than $125,000 in 2021 or 2020 and spouses or head of households earning less than $250,000 a year in the two years in question could have the equivalent of $10,000 in federal student loan debts forgiven.
If a borrower who is eligible was awarded the federal Pell grant during their time in college, they are qualified for up to $20,000 worth of debt cancellation.
There are many federal student loans, but they are not all suitable to be repaid. Federal Direct Loans such as subsidized loans, unsubsidized loans parent PLUS loans, and graduate PLUS loans are qualified.
But federal student loans which can be guaranteed by the federal government but are held by private lenders aren’t qualified unless the borrower applies to combine those loan into Direct Loan prior to September 29.
