Hundreds of protesters outside the court, many of whom were college students from across the country, underscored that point. Mr. Biden’s plan would relieve them of vast amounts of debt, they said.
Kaylah Lightfoot, a sophomore at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va., described the prolonged court fight over the program as stressful. “I’m truly just trying to stay focused and keep on going,” she said.
The administration was spurred to act because of the pandemic and its lingering effects. The law the administration relied on, the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003, usually called the HEROES Act, gives the secretary of education the power to “waive or modify any statutory or regulatory provision” to protect borrowers affected by “a war or other military operation or national emergency.”
Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Clarence Thomas were skeptical that the words “waive or modify” allowed outright cancellation. “It doesn’t say modify or waive loan balances,” the chief justice said.
Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh said that Congress “could have in 2003 referred to loan cancellation and loan forgiveness, and those are not in the statutory text.”
Later, though, Justice Kavanaugh described “waive” as “an extremely broad word,” adding that “in 2003, Congress was very aware of potential emergency actions in the wake of Sept. 11.”
Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar, representing the administration, said its plan fit comfortably within the statutory language, which she said had authorized the secretary of education to act. “The whole point of this statute, its central mission and function, is to ensure that in the face of a national emergency that is causing financial harm to borrowers, the secretary can do something,” she said.
Adam Liptak
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