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The US Supreme Court has rejected Joe Biden’s student loan relief plan, dealing a fatal blow to one of the administration’s flagship programs.
In a 6-3 decision written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the court’s conservative majority held that the government had no authorization for the program under the Heroes Act, which was passed after the September 11 attacks and required the administration to Student loan relief was granted. a national emergency.
The Supreme Court’s decision would block one of the cornerstones of Biden’s economic policy, which would have been to wipe out hundreds of billions of dollars in student loans, a portion of the debt owed by millions of Americans.
The program proposes debt elimination of up to $10,000 for most individuals earning up to $125,000. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that it will cost more than $400 billion.
During oral arguments in February, the conservative justices, who hold six of the nine seats on the bench, debated the fairness of the plan and whether Biden had the authority to eliminate loans for some students. He also suggested that such a measure should have been adopted by Congress through legislation rather than through executive action by the White House.
The Biden administration had argued that the debt relief plan would provide significant economic support to Americans after the COVID-19 pandemic.
A separate pandemic-era moratorium on student loan repayments is also set to expire in the coming months, raising concerns about the financial strain on the estimated 43 million Americans with student loans.
In another ruling Friday, the court sided with a Christian matrimony website builder in Colorado, which said it should not be forced to offer its services to a gay couple because doing so violated his freedom of expression. Will happen.
In a 6-3 decision authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch, the court’s conservative majority held that the US Constitution’s First Amendment “prohibits Colorado from coercing a website designer to create pages” that contain “messages with which the designer disagrees”. ” Are included.
