U.S. judge declares Biden's student debt relief plan unconstitutional

U.S. judge declares Biden's student debt relief plan unconstitutional(reuters.com)

15 points by lxm 3 years ago | 8 comments

boppo1 3 years ago |

How quick will we get to see this go to SCOTUS? As a student debt holder, I don't think outright forgiveness is a good move (the income-based payment and interest rate adjustments are enough). However I'm a pragmatist and will take it if it is given. It would be nice to have some certainty to plan around.

jleyank 3 years ago |

Article didn't say why - could somebody provide a link that actually said what the problem(s) were?

hirundo 3 years ago | |

The article says

* The plaintiffs allege that they can show harm, and

* the HEROES Act does not authorize the expenditure, therefore

* "The Program is thus an unconstitutional exercise of Congress's legislative power and must be vacated."

The ruling will be a variation of that explanation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_of_the_purse#United_Stat...

AnimalMuppet 3 years ago | | |

Well, and that actually is what the constitution says. You want to spend all that money? Congress needs to pass it. You can't just do it by executive order.

The first point, about showing harm, is basically about whether the plaintiffs have standing to sue. No harm, no legally recognized grounds for filing a lawsuit.

rsj_hn 3 years ago | |

Because spending money needs to be authorized by Congress through law. A president can't just issue an executive order and say "You don't need to pay this government guaranteed debt -- the taxpayers will pick up the tab. Because I said so."

There have been several executive orders that were found unconstitutional:

- Executive order that landlords can't evict tenants for non-payment of rent during covid

- Several executive orders about vaccine mandates

- Executive order imposing a moratorium on oil and gas leasing

etc.

puffoflogic 3 years ago |

Joke's on them. Getting this blocked is a huge boon to Democrat elite, who can now continue to promise this for another decade and still never have to actually spend their bargaining chip. It's brilliant, really.