More pressure is being applied to end President Biden's student loan forgiveness plan before it goes into effect.
A group of Wisconsin taxpayers has asked the Supreme Court to intervene and halt the President's loan forgiveness plan until a lower court rules on an appeal. The request was filed with conservative-leaning Justice Amy Coney Barrett who handles emergency requests for Wisconsin.
The Brown County Taxpayers Association urged the court to rule that the president's debt cancellation plan illegally encroaches on Congress' exclusive spending power, according to The Hill.
“The assault on our separation of powers — and upon the principle that the spending power is vested solely in Congress — is extraordinary, and perhaps unprecedented,” they wrote in court papers. “We are witnessing a gargantuan increase in the national debt accomplished by a complete disregard for limitations on the constitutional spending authority.”
In their Wednesday filing, the challengers urged SCOTUS to rule that Biden's debt cancellation policy would have major political and economic consequences.
“There is no legal justification for this presidential usurpation of the constitutional spending power, which is reserved exclusively for Congress,” they wrote. “This step, which is certainly a major question … is predicated on a law passed under different circumstances to accomplish different purposes for different beneficiaries.”
In August, President Biden announced plans to forgive $10,000 in student loan debt for those making under $125,000 annually and $20,000 for Pell grant recipients. (RELATED: Biden Announces Student Loan Forgiveness)
Critics of the policy have questioned the legality behind the Administration's authorization of a 2003 federal law known as the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act (HEROES Act). The act was in response to the national emergency declaration by President George W. Bush in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks with the intent to ensure military members fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan would not be penalized while repaying their federal student aid loans.
Legal experts have questioned if President Biden's use of the HEROES Act to cancel nationwide debt is stretching the law beyond its scope and encroaching on expressly given powers of Congress.
On Thursday, White House press secretary Karine Jean Pierre defended the President's use of the HEROES Act to cancel student debt, according to Fox News.
“There are going to be some people, when we lift the pause [on loan payments], that are still going to suffer.” She said while some who have been able to save money due to the moratorium on student loan payments, others are “going to have a hard time … they're just in a different bracket.”
“There are a number of constitutional challenges that could be brought,” says Turley. The administration “could conceivably have success with some lower court judges, but I suspect they will get a rather chilly reception from the Supreme Court.”
Last month, a public interest attorney filed a lawsuit against the Department of Education to block President Biden's “illegal” move to cancel more than $500 billion in student loan debt. (RELATED: President Biden's Student Loan Forgiveness Plan Faces Uphill Battle in Court)
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The Supreme Court should certainly prevent Biden from giving our money away without Congressional authorization.
There is no way I see these guys as “HEROES” for borrowing money they can not pay back and then goading this half-wit Emperor wannabe to pay for it with our money. We should all stop paying taxes for the next two years until Joe is out of office if it takes that long. FJB
Hey what about Auto/Home loans for the rest of us Americans ????
While I hope I won’t hold my breath anything will happen.