- Trump used the HEROES Act to extend the student-loan payment pause in March 2020.
- Biden used the same law to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for federal borrowers, but that plan is held up in court.
Sen. Bernie Sanders cited former President Donald Trump to argue why President Joe Biden's student-loan forgiveness plan is legal.
On February 28, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on the legality of Biden's plan to forgive up to $20,000 in student debt for federal borrowers making under $125,000 a year. The plan has been held up since October due to two lawsuits filed by conservative-backed groups seeking to block the relief — one by six Republican-led states who argued the relief would hurt their states' tax revenues, and another by two student-loan borrowers who did not qualify for the full $20,000 amount of relief.
While the lawsuits, and Republican lawmakers, have argued Biden does not have the authority to cancel student debt without Congressional approval, Sanders argued otherwise — and referenced Trump's actions as a reason why.
"Let's be clear: If Trump had the authority to pause student debt payments, President Biden has the authority to cancel student debt," Sanders wrote on Twitter on Friday. "The Supreme Court must reject the Republicans' baseless lawsuits to take away student debt relief to 40 million Americans who desperately need it."
Sanders is referring to Trump's usage of 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 COVID-19. In March 2020, when the pandemic emerged, Trump used the Act to pause student-loan payments and waive interest, and Biden has since extended the pause — most recently through 60 days after June 30, or whenever the lawsuits are resolved, whichever happens first.
Biden also used the HEROES Act for his broad debt relief plan, and his administration has consistently argued that the relief is legal because it will help Americans recover from the economic impacts of the pandemic, which could go on longer than COVID-19 is considered a national emergency.
In a legal filing on Wednesday night, the Justice Department reiterated that argument, noting that "both the Trump and Biden Administrations previously invoked the HEROES Act to categorically suspend payment obligations and interest accrual on all Department-held loans in light of the pandemic. No respondent has argued that those actions were unlawful," with "respondent" referring to the lawsuits' plaintiffs.
Still, Republican lawmakers continue to criticize the plan. Republicans who will likely serve on the House education committee wrote on Twitter on Thursday in response to a statement from Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on the lawsuits: "Don't make this about fairness, because it's not—it's about politics."
—House Committee on Education & the Workforce (@EdWorkforceCmte) January 5, 2023
All borrowers can do right now is wait and see what the Supreme Court ultimately decides, and Cardona emphasized he remains "confident in our legal authority to adopt this program that will ensure the financial harms caused by the pandemic don't drive borrowers into delinquency and default."