What happens if Supreme Court strikes down Biden's student-debt relief - Business Insider

But after President Joe Biden announced $20,000 in student-debt relief for Pell Grant recipients, and $10,000 in relief for other federal borrowers making under $125,000 a year, Weiss looked forward to that loan forgiveness and the lower monthly payments it would bring.

A primary thread among the lawsuits is that Biden's overstepping his authority by enacting one-time debt relief using the HEROES Act of 2003, which gives the Education Secretary the ability to waive or modify student-loan balances in connection with a national emergency, like the COVID-19 pandemic.

But given it's the root of many of the challenges to the loan forgiveness, some have argued Biden can save the relief by turning to a different authority: the Higher Education Act of 1965.

George Miller — an architect of the HEROES Act — even wrote in an amicus-curiae brief to the Supreme Court that the debt relief falls "exactly" under the Education Secretary's authority.

Some Democratic lawmakers and experts argue that the authority to cancel student debt has always existed under the Higher Education Act.

Under the Act's compromise-and-settlement authority, it states that the Education Department can "enforce, pay, compromise, waive, or release any right, title, claim, lien, or demand" related to federal student debt

Ayanna Pressley led a group of Democratic colleagues in introducing a resolution outlining a plan for Biden to cancel student debt using the Higher Education Act, which does not require a connection to a national emergency

"President Biden has the legal authority to cancel billions in student debt with the stroke of a pen and he must meet the moment by using that authority, which would not only set us on a path to an equitable recovery, but would also help reduce the racial-wealth gap," Pressley said at the time

In September 2020, the Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School wrote a memo for Warren outlining why the Act gives the Education Secretary authority to cancel student debt broadly