The conservative case(s) against Biden's student debt relief plan

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March 1, 2023

Stephen Collinson, Caitlin Hu and Shelby Rose

How much power does a president have?

Activists and students protest in front of the Supreme Court in Washington on Tuesday.

This isn't a college essay question -- but it's one that may end up being very important to millions of American students.

It is also often the key issue in the US Supreme Court, especially in the age of an unassailable conservative majority that takes a dim view of government interventions on health, social and regulatory policy at the best of times.

On Tuesday, the court took up two cases brought by challengers to President Joe Biden's plan to alleviate some of the crushing student loan debt held by American borrowers.

In one case, Biden v. Nebraska, a group of Republican-led states argued the president exceeded his authority by using the pandemic as a pretext to make good a campaign pledge to erase student loan debt. In the second, two individuals who didn't qualify for loan relief argued that the government didn't follow its own rules when drawing it up.

As always, paying too much attention to the questions justices ask in a hearing can lead us astray. But several appeared open to seeing these cases as a way to again constrain what the government can do without the agreement of Congress. And since Congress is hopelessly divided and finds it hard to do anything much, that could be bad news for debt-laden graduates.

Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh asked the lawyers in the case to explain how the student debt relief issue related to other cases dealing with the powers wielded by the White House during the pandemic, since there doesn't seem to be a clear doctrine of what is permissible in such cases.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who was appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama, tried to bring across the humanity of the situation. "There's 50 million students … who will benefit from this. Who today will struggle. Many of them don't have assets sufficient to bail them out after the pandemic. They don't have friends or families or others who can help them make these payments," she said.

At the same time, however, there are millions of other Americans who never attended college due to academic or financial reasons. They also have a right to ask why the government is willing to write off thousands of dollars for those who did, and not them. But that is more a political question for Biden to answer than a legal dilemma for the justices.

A final ruling in the case is expected by the summer.

Conservative Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch also expressed skepticism of Biden's student debt relief plan. (U.S. Supreme Court)

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'I don't think politicians should really be the ones making that decision'

Dozens of parents, students and alumni spoke out on Tuesday against Florida's conservative takeover of New College of Florida -- part of Gov. Ron DeSantis' efforts to use state power to wield a "war on wokeness," as we described in yesterday's edition about Disneyworld.

In January, DeSantis replaced six of the 13 members on New College's board of trustees with conservative allies. The new board in turn forced out the college's president, appointing another DeSantis ally as interim president. The board has already begun axing progressive initiatives at the school, voting on Tuesday to abolish diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

DeSantis' office insists that the New College of Florida in Sarasota has seen declining enrollment and focuses too heavily on diversity and inclusion, critical race theory and gender ideology. Students say the school had created an environment where members of marginalized groups could express themselves, and describe the takeover as an attempt to quash academic liberty.

"Regardless of your attempts to suppress our educational freedom we will continue to learn the subjects that you want to ban," said student Sam Sharf said during public comments during a meeting of the board of trustees, as CNN's Nicquel Terry Ellis writes.

As public comment closed, a crowd chanted "Shame on you!" toward the board of trustees.

"A lot of us are hurting right now," said third-year student Chai Leffler, who is studying Chinese and urban studies at the college. Leffler said New College of Florida has always been a school that has encouraged "free academic thought."

Lawmakers, he added, are trying to strip away that freedom by telling students what they can and can't study.

"I don't think politicians should really be the ones making that decision," Leffler told CNN. "And I really don't think that's an unpopular opinion."

Thanks for reading.

On Wednesday, India hosts a meeting of G20 foreign ministers in New Delhi with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China Qin Gang on the roster. The annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is held in National Harbor, Maryland.