Supreme Court to Hear Arguments on Biden’s Student Debt Relief Plan

President Joe Biden announced a student debt relief plan in August 2022 that would allow up to $20,000 of debt to be forgiven for those earning less than $125,000 per year, with 90% of the benefits going to those earning less than $75,000 annually.[0] The plan was temporarily put on hold after several Republican states filed lawsuits against the program.[1]

In February, the Supreme Court will have oral arguments for two cases, which are challenging the debt relief program, a key component of President Biden's domestic agenda.[2] The applications for debt relief were open for less than four weeks before the lawsuits blocked them. Now, the White House has released data showing that 26 million people applied or were deemed automatically eligible for relief before the block.[3]

California had the most applicants and automatically eligible people, with 2.3 million, according to the data, followed by Texas with 2.1 million. The most populous states had the highest numbers.[4] California (2.2 million applications), Texas (2 million), Florida (1.5 million), New York (1.5 million), Pennsylvania (1 million), Ohio (1 million), Illinois (1 million), and Georgia (about 950,000) were the states with the most applications received by the Education Department, all of which are some of the nation’s most populous.[5]

In September 2022, former Republican Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich filed one of the lawsuits, however, his Democratic successor Kris Mayes recently withdrew it.[1] Bharat Ramamurti, the deputy director of the White House National Economic Council, said, “Only because of Republican officials and special interests’ flawed legal campaign, millions of eligible borrowers are being denied the relief that they need.”[6]

The Penn Wharton Budget Model estimates the program could cost up to $361 billion over the next decade.[1] The Supreme Court will review the legality of President Biden's debt relief plan, after another appeals court rejected a bid to revive it.[7] Federal student loan payments could resume before the revised plan rolls out, but are currently on hold until the Supreme Court makes a ruling.[8] After the ruling, payments will resume 60 days later, or on June 30, 2023 if a resolution is not found by that date.[9]

0. “Hundreds of thousands of borrowers in CT would have been eligible for student loan forgiveness plan” Eyewitness News 3, 27 Jan. 2023, https://www.wfsb.com/2023/01/27/hundreds-thousands-borrowers-ct-would-have-eligible-student-loan-forgiveness-plan/

1. “Lawsuits keeping over 300,000 Arizonans from getting student loan relief” KTAR.com, 27 Jan. 2023, https://ktar.com/story/5427193/lawsuits-keeping-over-300000-arizonans-from-getting-student-loan-relief

2. “Student debt relief challengers make case to Supreme Court” The Hill, 28 Jan. 2023, https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/3833910-student-debt-relief-challengers-make-case-to-supreme-court

3. “White House ‘Fully Approved' 16 Million People for Contested Student Loan Forgiveness Plan. Whether They See Relief Depends on Supreme Court's Decision” NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, 27 Jan. 2023, https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/white-house-fully-approved-16-million-people-for-contested-student-loan-forgiveness-plan-whether-they-see-relief-depends-on-supreme-courts-decision/3180234/

4. “Half a million Tennesseans applied for student debt relief through Biden program” WKRN News 2, 27 Jan. 2023, https://www.wkrn.com/news/tennessee-news/half-a-million-tennesseans-applied-for-student-debt-relief-through-biden-program/

5. “Education Department releases new data on 25M applications for Biden's student debt relief” POLITICO, 27 Jan. 2023, https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/27/doe-data-student-debt-relief-biden-00079751

6. “Which are the states that made the most applications for Biden’s student debt relief” AS USA, 27 Jan. 2023, https://en.as.com/latest_news/which-are-the-states-that-made-the-most-applications-for-bidens-student-debt-relief-n/

7. “Student loan forgiveness data shows how many borrowers applied in each state” The Washington Post, 27 Jan. 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/01/27/student-loan-forgiveness-applications-state/

8. “Student Loans: 5 Biggest Winners of Biden’s New IDR Plan” Yahoo Finance, 30 Jan. 2023, https://finance.yahoo.com/news/student-loans-5-biggest-winners-205259034.html

9. “How can you get student loan forgiveness for up to 24 months in New York?” AS USA, 27 Jan. 2023, https://en.as.com/latest_news/how-can-you-get-student-loan-forgiveness-for-up-to-24-months-in-new-york-n/

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