Presidential Power, Standing, and Student Loan Forgiveness

We the People

National Constitution Center

News, News Commentary, History

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 2 March 2023

⏱️ 51 minutes

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Summary

This week the Supreme Court heard two separate legal challenges to a student loan forgiveness program proposed by the Biden administration: Biden v. Nebraska and Department of Education v. Brown. The plan aims to cancel up to $20,000 of student debt for low-to middle-income families, and was rolled out last August during the tail end of the COVID-19 pandemic. It relied on the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003 (or the HEROES Act), a law passed after 9/11 that gives the secretary of education the power to make changes to student loan programs during a national emergency. At the heart of the challenges to the plan are major questions surrounding the scope of presidential power; the doctrine of “standing”—or who can bring a lawsuit in court; and whether certain issues are of such “vast economic and political significance” that they should be left to the legislative branch and not decisions of federal agencies. William Araiza of Brooklyn Law School and Anastasia Boden of the Cato Institute join to unpack the arguments on both sides of the cases. Host Jeffrey Rosen moderates. Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org. Continue today’s conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly. You can find transcripts for each episode on the podcast pages in our Media Library.

Transcript

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0:00.0	When President Biden announced a plan to cancel up to $20,000 of student debt for low-to-middle-income families,
0:07.0	tens of millions rushed to sign up for the relief.
0:10.0	The plan was rolled out last August during the tail end of the COVID pandemic and it relied on the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003, otherwise known as the Heroes Act.
0:22.0	That was a law passed after 9-11 that gives the Secretary of Education the power to waive or modify student loan programs during a national emergency.
0:32.0	The price tag for the President's plan? student loan programs during a national emergency.
0:33.2	The price tag for the president's plan
0:35.2	an estimated $400 billion.
0:38.0	But did the president have the power to wipe out the debt,
0:40.7	or did he overstep his authority?
0:45.6	Hello friends, I'm Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution
0:49.8	Center, and welcome to We The People, a weekly show of constitutional debate.
0:54.6	The National Constitution Center is a nonpartisan nonprofit chartered by Congress to increase
0:59.8	awareness and understanding of the Constitution among the American people.
1:04.8	This week the justices heard two separate challenges to the President's Student Loan
1:08.8	Forgiveness Program, Biden versus Nebraska, and Department of Education versus Brown.
1:15.0	At the heart of the oral arguments are two doctrines, the major questions doctrine and the standing
1:20.2	doctrine.
1:21.2	Joining us to unpack all this are two constitutional scholars who filed friends of the court
1:25.4	briefs in the cases.
1:28.0	William Arraza is the Stanley A August, Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School.
1:33.1	He filed a friend of the court brief
1:34.9	in support of the Biden administration.
	...

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