Is Biden To Blame for the Student Debt Mess?
Slate News
Slate Podcasts
4.5 • 6K Ratings
🗓️ 6 July 2023
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Biden administration’s plan to forgive federal student loan debt has been stalled, perhaps indefinitely, by the Supreme Court’s decision in Biden v. Nebraska.
Was their plan to help borrowers always doomed, or was there another way? And after the Roberts court delivered such a broad-sweeping decision, what options does Biden have left?
Guest: Jed Shugerman, professor at Boston University School of Law.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | So, Jed, I don't think you're gonna like where I'm about to start this interview. |
| 0:09.6 | Okay. |
| 0:11.0 | Do you feel a little guilty for helping bring down President Biden's student loan forgiveness |
| 0:17.2 | program? |
| 0:18.2 | Oh, not at all. |
| 0:22.4 | Really? |
| 0:23.4 | Not at all because I don't mean to say I told you so, but Mary, I told you also. |
| 0:29.9 | Jed Chugerman is a law professor at Boston University. |
| 0:36.7 | And as he can tell, he was not surprised by the big Supreme Court decision last week, |
| 0:41.9 | the one that upended the president's student debt relief plan. |
| 0:46.2 | In fact, this outcome, he wanted it, sort of. |
| 0:54.6 | Allow me to explain. |
| 0:56.2 | While most progressives interested in forgiving student debt, spent the last year saying the |
| 1:01.1 | president had every right to magic away billions of dollars of loans, Jed saw this plan, and |
| 1:08.1 | thought, this will never work. |
| 1:10.8 | That's because of Biden's reasoning here. |
| 1:13.4 | The administration said COVID was a national emergency, and a national emergency meant the |
| 1:19.1 | Secretary of Education could waive or modify any statutory or regulatory provision, including |
| 1:24.8 | those dealing with loan repayments. |
| 1:27.3 | This is all laid out in a 9-11 era law, Notice the Heroes Act. |
| 1:30.9 | It's the same justification President Trump used to pause loan repayments back in 2020. |
| 1:37.0 | But Jed, he couldn't help but wonder. |
... |
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