by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News December 12, 2022

The Supreme Court on Monday said it would hear a second challenge to Team Biden’s student loan forgiveness program after it agreed earlier this month to hear arguments over a separate case early next year.

The decision to take up the case, U.S. Department of Education v. Brown, came after the Biden administration petitioned the case to the justices earlier this month following an appeals court’s decision to continue a block on the program. The lawsuit was initially brought by borrowers who argued the White House improperly put together the plan without a public comment period before it went into effect.

U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman, a Trump appointee, overturned the policy on Nov. 10, saying Team Biden “profoundly erred” by attempting to roll out the plan while also making the decision based on legal arguments that were never mentioned in the initial lawsuit.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit then ruled to keep Pittman’s block on the program until it issues a final ruling in the case, prompting Biden’s Department of Justice to appeal to the Supreme Court.

The Brown case will also be argued in February, alongside Biden v. Nebraska, a second lawsuit against the debt relief plan brought by Republican-led states that sued against the program. No specific date has been set for arguments.

Biden’s administration asked in its petition for the student loan forgiveness program to resume, but the justices declined, saying it would defer the decision to put the policy back into effect until after oral arguments.

The Nebraska case saw the halt on the program continue after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit kept it in place. With two circuit courts in agreement, the justices would have to side with the Biden administration in both cases for the student loan forgiveness to take effect and for borrowers to see relief.

Because the high court will now hear two cases that have succeeded at blocking the plan, borrowers will likely not know whether they’ll receive debt relief until the moratorium on student loan payments lifts on June 30 and payments resume.

Action . . . . Intelligence . . . . Publish

  Supreme Court agrees to hear challenge to Biden’s student loan forgiveness program, WorldTribune.com