President Joe Biden is now looking for other ways to ease financial burdens.Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty
Within minutes of the Supreme Court rejecting PresidentJoe Biden’sstudent loan forgiveness planon Friday morning, the White House was making moves to try and assure the American people that the fight for financial relief is not yet over.
“While we strongly disagree with the court, we prepared for this scenario,” a source within the White House told PEOPLE, adding that the president plans to say more on the 6-3Biden v. Nebraskaruling later in the day. “The president will make clear he’s not done fighting yet, and will announce new actions to protect student loan borrowers.”
In assessing the Biden administration’s plan to relieveup to $20,000 in student loansfor eligible borrowers, the Supreme Court centered arguments around whether a president and his cabinet have the power to launch such a program without congressional authorization.
“The question here is not whether something should be done; it is who has the authority to do it,” Chief JusticeJohn Robertswrote in the court’s opinion, which was unusually direct in asserting that the justices' ultimate decision wasnot politically motivated. Roberts claimed that “precedent—old and new—requires that Congress speak clearly before a Department Secretary can unilaterally alter large sections of the American economy.”
President Joe Biden and Education Sec. Miguel Cardona speak on their plan to forgive student loans in August 2022.Alex Wong / Getty images
Alex Wong / Getty images
With a scrapped plan anda divided Congress, Biden has few options to follow through on student debt relief in the way he had hoped on the 2020 campaign trail, but he also won’t be taking the blame.
According to the White House source, his team will “be making it crystal clear to borrowers and their families that Republicans are responsible for denying them the relief that President Biden has been fighting to get to them.”
“The hypocrisy of Republican elected officials is stunning,” Biden said in a statement released ahead of his scheduled remarks at 3:30 p.m. ET. “They had no problem with billions in pandemic-related loans to businesses — including hundreds of thousands and in some cases millions of dollarsfor their own businesses. And those loans were forgiven. But when it came to providing relief to millions of hard-working Americans, they did everything in their power to stop it.”
source: people.com
