Supreme Court Strikes Down Biden $400 Billion Student Loan Forgiveness as Executive Overreach

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that President Biden’s plan to cancel up to $430 billion in student loan debt exceeded executive authority under the HEROES Act. The plan would have forgiven up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients and $10,000 for other borrowers, affecting 43 million Americans. Chief Justice Roberts wrote that the HEROES Act allowed the Secretary to ‘waive or modify’ provisions, ’not to rewrite that statute from the ground up,’ comparing the administration’s interpretation to the French Revolution ‘modifying’ the nobility. Justice Kagan’s dissent argued the majority was overstepping by deciding ‘a contested public policy issue properly belonging to the politically accountable branches.’ The decision marked a major limit on emergency executive powers following COVID-19.