Thus far no Republicans (or their conservative front groups) have filed suit against President Biden’s student loan forgiveness program, although they are preening for any reporter who will listen about how the program is the end of constitutional government as we know it.
The New Republic’s Matt Ford takes a look at the reasons why the GOP might have a hard time coming up with ways to battle the student loan forgiveness program in court — including a law originally meant to forgive the student loans of people directly affected by 9/11:
Student loan relief appears to be different. No such lawsuit has been filed against the Biden administration to stop the order from taking effect. It’s far from clear whether one can even be properly filed to challenge it. And even if one is filed, the Biden administration has good reason to think it can win. For this apparent victory, Democrats can thank the unlikeliest of duos: former President George W. Bush and the “war on terror.”
From where does Biden claim the power to wipe away so much student debt? The White House pointed to the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003, or HEROES Act for short. The law sprang from the September 11 attacks and a temporary measure passed by Congress in 2001 to allow the president to waive certain student loan requirements for those affected by the attacks. In 2003, Congress passed a broader version of the law in light of the then-ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the large number of U.S. servicemembers who would have to repay loans while serving overseas. Though it was temporary at first, Congress later extended it in 2005 and then made it permanent in 2007.
From their we go to another TNR article, this time by Julian Epp, who writes that he is one of the fortunate who will be aided by the loan forgiveness program. But Epp also writes of the people who will be left behind. Good piece.
And, finally, Epp links to this New Yorker article I managed to miss: The Aging Student Debtors of America: In an era of declining wages and rising debt, Americans are not aging out of their student loans—they are aging into them.
Crazy how the student-centered student loans from when I went to school have morphed into the blood-sucking vampires of debt that I never would have faced or even thought possible to face.