President Joe Biden’s decision to end the national and public emergencies tied to COVID-19 raises questions about what will become of the administration’s signature student loan forgiveness plan.
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The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments dealing with that program in late February. The administration offered up to $20,000 in loan forgiveness for millions of borrowers, invoking a law passed after 9/11 that gives the president the authority to forgive student loan debt in connection to national emergencies.
The court will hear two cases related to the debt forgiveness program, both of which challenge Biden’s authority to use that law to forgive student loan debt.
Because the program is tied to such an emergency, it’s not clear how declaring the emergencies officially over will affect the court’s deliberations.
The longstanding pause on student loan payments could last until the end of June, depending on when the Supreme Court rules.
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The student loan cases, which question whether the administration had the power to forgive $400 billion in student loan debt, are set for argument Feb. 28.
The Justice Department declined to comment.
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