The Biden administration overreached in trying to cancel or reduce student loans, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday.
The 6-3 decision ended the $400 billion Biden plan, announced last year, to assist millions with student loans.
Biden needed congressional approval on student loan relief, the court ruled. It rejected arguments that Biden was legally empowered by the HEROES Act, a bipartisan student loan law, to act by executive order.
Six states, Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, and South Carolina, were among those suing to stop the plan.
“Six states sued, arguing that the HEROES Act does not authorize the loan cancelation plan. We agree,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court.
Justice Elena Kagan wrote in a dissent: “[The court] overrides the combined judgment of the Legislative and Executive Branches, with the consequence of eliminating loan forgiveness for 43 million Americans.”
Loan repayments are expected to resume by October after being on hold for three years during the pandemic.
The program would have canceled $10,000 in student loan debt for those making less than $125,000 or households with less than $250,000.
More than 43 million people would have been eligible for relief, with the cost estimated at $400 billion.
Biden had vowed to help borrowers “crawl out from under that mountain of debt.” He made student loan relief one of the centerpieces of his 2020 campaign against former President Donald Trump.
The White House said Biden would announce more student loan initiatives on Friday.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in a statement that the ruling reveals a callousness among the Supreme Court.
“The fight will not end here. The Biden administration has remaining legal routes to provide broad-based student debt cancellation. With the pause on student loan payments set to expire in weeks, I call upon the administration to do everything in its power to deliver for millions of working- and middle-class Americans struggling with student loan debt,” Schumer said.
