Supreme Court will hear 2nd challenge to Biden student debt relief plan in February

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday added a second challenge to the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness program to its docket for arguments in February.

The case, Department of Education v. Brown, came to the court after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit refused to block a district’s nationwide order vacating the student loan plan.

The challenge was filed by two student loan borrowers, Myra Brown and Alexander Taylor, who are represented in the high court by Consovoy McCarthy partner J. Michael Connolly.

The justices directed the government and Connolly to brief and argue two questions: Whether Brown and Taylor have standing to challenge the plan, and whether the department has authority to issue the plan and did so in a procedurally proper manner.

The court on Dec. 1 also has scheduled for February arguments the case Biden v. Nebraska, in which six GOP-led states are challenging the student loan plan. In that case out of the Eighth Circuit, the states similarly argue the plan violates the separation of powers and the Administrative Procedure Act because it exceeds the authority of the secretary of education, and is arbitrary and capricious.

Under the student debt relief plan, the U.S. Department of Education will provide up to $20,000 in debt relief to Pell Grant recipients with loans held by the Education Department and up to $10,000 in debt relief to non-Pell Grant recipients. Borrowers are eligible for this relief if their individual income is less than $125,000 or $250,000 for households.

Because of the litigation, loan payments have been paused by the administration until June 30.