President Joe Biden’s plan to cancel student loans was deemed unconstitutional by a federal court in Texas on Thursday, dealing another blow to the administration’s effort to redistribute wealth.
Appointed by Trump, Judge Mark Pittman ruled in favor of the conservative advocacy group Job Creators Network and two students who were having problems repaying their student loans. The standards for Biden’s loan forgiveness program were not met by one applicant, while another did not get the entire $20,000 reward.
The plaintiff borrowers claimed the Biden administration violated the law by not providing them with an opportunity to express their views before the scheme’s implementation.
True to what the judge stated emphatically:
The Constitution vests Congress with “all legislative powers.” On the other hand, the executive branch may be granted the power to make decisions in this area. While the executive branch has considerable power, it cannot use that power to establish a law without the explicit assent of Congress. To do differently would be an unconstitutional exercise of presidential power over Congress’ “legislative powers.” Despite its good intentions, the HEROES Act fails to provide the executive branch with the express congressional authority needed to implement a $400 billion student loan forgiveness program.
Pittman said that the Trump administration’s Department of Education considered using the HEROES Act to provide debt relief to students affected by the coronavirus outbreak but ultimately decided it lacked the authority to do so.
Pittman stated in his order that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has stated the president “does not” have the “authority for debt forgiveness.” She also said that only an act of Congress would allow this to happen.
It “protects the rule of law, which compel[s] all Americans to have their voices heard by their federal government,” as stated by Elaine Parker, president of the Job Creators Network.
Parker continued,
The failed attempt at an illegal student loan bailout won’t solve the real problem of rising tuition that families can’t afford, which is that colleges are being gluttonous and wasteful by raising tuition at a rate well above inflation despite having $700 billion in endowments. We are optimistic that today’s ruling will open the door to more long-term solutions to the problem of student loans.
Following a lawsuit brought by Nebraska against the Obama administration, which led to an administrative stay that essentially suspended the program, Pittman has rendered his verdict.
U.S. Department of Justice has appealed Pittman’s decision, according to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.
Cardona stated that the agency would continue “fighting for the millions of industrious students and borrowers throughout the nation” while being “disappointed” by the ruling.
As you might imagine, we are disappointed by the Texas court’s decision to put an end to any additional debt relief. Cardona said that the government would not cave into criticism of his plan to reduce the national debt. We will keep borrowers updated on our efforts to provide “targeted assistance” once the Department of Justice appeals the decision made today.
Brown v. Department of Education, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas, Case No. 4:22-cv-0908.