Supreme Court asked to block Biden student-debt relief plan

A Wisconsin taxpayers group asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block President Biden’s student-loan relief plan from taking effect, accusing him of usurping the power of Congress and costing taxpayers potentially more than $1 trillion.

The emergency filing from the Brown County Taxpayers Association seeks to keep the plan on hold while the group’s legal challenge goes forward. The group says the administration could start canceling loans as soon as Sunday without Supreme Court intervention.

Jens Schlueter/Photographer: Jens Schlueter/Get

The Biden plan would forgive as much as $20,000 in federal loans for certain borrowers making less than $125,000 per year or $250,000 for spouses. The plan made good on one of Biden’s campaign promises and could bolster Democrats in next month’s midterm elections by encouraging young voters to cast ballots.

A federal district judge earlier this month tossed out the Brown County case, saying the group lacked legal standing to sue. The Supreme Court has said people generally don’t have the right to take the federal government to court over how their tax dollars are spent. 

The Supreme Court in other contexts has curbed the president’s power to act without explicit congressional authorization. In its most recent term, the court blocked the administration from requiring 80 million workers to get shots or periodic tests and curbed the power of the Environmental Protection Agency to tackle climate change.

“There is no legal justification for this presidential usurpation of the constitutional spending power, which is reserved exclusively for Congress,” the Brown County Taxpayers Association argued.

The case is one of at least five lawsuits around the country challenging the president’s plan.  The taxpayers group filed its emergency request with Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who is assigned to handle emergency matters from Wisconsin. Barrett could act on her own or refer the matter to the full nine-member court.

The case is Brown County Taxpayers Association v. Biden, 22A331.