Biden to announce new actions on student loans after Supreme Court ruling

by Alex Gangitano - 06/30/23 11:11 AM ET

President Biden on Friday will announce new actions to protect student loan borrowers following the Supreme Court ruling that struck down his student debt relief plan, according to a source within the White House.

“I believe that the Court’s decision to strike down our student debt relief plan is wrong,” Biden said in a statement. “But I will stop at nothing to find other ways to deliver relief to hard-working middle-class families. My Administration will continue to work to bring the promise of higher education to every American.”

Soon after the Supreme Court ruling, a source within the White House told The Hill that they “prepared for this scenario.”

“The president will have more to say today,” the source said. “The president will make clear he’s not done fighting yet and will announce new actions to protect student loan borrowers.”

The president will also make “crystal clear” to student loan borrowers that “Republicans are responsible for denying them the relief that President Biden has been fighting to get to them,” according to the source.

Biden in his statement vowed that “this fight is not over” and leaned into blaming Republicans.

“The hypocrisy of Republican elected officials is stunning. They had no problem with billions in pandemic-related loans to businesses – including hundreds of thousands and in some cases millions of dollars for their own businesses. And those loans were forgiven,” he said. “But when it came to providing relief to millions of hard-working Americans, they did everything in their power to stop it.”

The Supreme Court decision stopped more than 40 million borrowers from receiving loan forgiveness and delivered a major defeat to one of the president’s key campaign promises. Although the decision was expected from the conservative-majority court, the White House has shied away from announcing a Plan B if the program is struck down.

The program, announced in August, would have canceled up to $20,000 in loans for Pell Grant recipients and $10,000 for other borrowers, if the individual’s income is less than $125,000.

The president announced it amid mounting pressure from progressives to act on student debt. While some had pushed for up to $50,000 in relief, they saw his program as a positive first step.

The decision on Friday limits Biden’s options to deliver on his 2020 campaign promise to forgive student loans.

More on SCOTUS’s student loans ruling from The Hill

When it announced the program, the administration sought to tie it to the national emergency established during the public health crisis from COVID-19. It cited the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students (HEROES) Act — a law Congress enacted after 9/11 and as the nation went to war — to justify the maneuver.

“The Secretary asserts that the HEROES Act grants him the authority to cancel $430 billion of student loan principal. It does not,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote Friday.

This story was updated at 1:02 p.m.

Tags Joe Biden student loans