News

Listen live: Supreme Court hears oral arguments on student loan forgiveness

The Supreme Court is hearing back-to-back oral arguments regarding Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness plan. The program, which is currently on hold, would forgive up to $20,000 for borrowers who also received Pell Grants.

In Biden v. Nebraska, six Republican attorneys general are arguing that the program is a presidential overreach. The Biden administration relied on the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (HEROES Act) to authorize the student debt relief program, saying the plan is to help borrowers who are financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Critics argue that the HEROES Act does not grant the Department of Education the authority to implement the program and the program violated the laws governing federal agencies. The administration contends that the states do not have the standing to sue because they failed to show they were negatively impacted by the program.

In Department of Education v. Brown, two student loan borrowers in Texas are alleging that they were “improperly denied the opportunity to comment on the plan and that if the Secretary had proceeded through notice and comment, they would have urged him to adopt broader eligibility criteria and to provide greater debt relief.”

One of the two borrowers is not eligible for Biden’s student loan forgiveness program because her loans are held by commercial lenders, not federal. The other is eligible for the $10,000 dollars relief but not the full $20,000 dollars because he is not a Pell Grant recipient.

The oral arguments are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. ET.

Listen to the live feed above.

Read more from The Hill:
Top 5 questions surrounding Biden student debt relief fight at Supreme Court

Tensions rise as Supreme Court prepares for high-stakes student debt clash

Tags Joe Biden President Joe Biden SCOTUS Student loan forgiveness Supreme Court United States Washington D.C.

Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.