On Thursday, the Supreme Court rejected an urgent appeal submitted by a group of Wisconsin taxpayers who were opposing President Joe Biden’s student debt forgiveness program.
Without more explanation, Justice Amy Coney Barrett rejected the urgent court application that requested the court to halt Mr. Biden’s scheme. Barrett was contacted because she manages requests that come from the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, where the request was submitted.
She did not bring the case before the whole court. The court will not become involved until the case has been resolved in the lower courts, rather than the judgment reflecting on the case’s merits.
The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, speaking on behalf of the Brown County Taxpayers Association, filed an emergency request with Barrett on Wednesday requesting the Supreme Court to step in while the case is still pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.
The organization said that officials from the Biden administration “exceeded their constitutional authorities and their scheme infringes fundamental rights” in the lawsuit.
In August, Vice President Biden said that he would take steps to cancel up to $20,000 of federal student loan debt for individuals and couples earning less than $125,000 annually or $250,000 annually. According to the White House, the proposal would provide relief to up to 43 million debtors, almost 20 million of whom will have their outstanding debt completely cancelled.
The relief application went up earlier this week, and as of Monday, the White House said that 8 million Americans had had submitted their applications. On Friday, Mr. Biden is scheduled to speak on student debt relief at Delaware State University in Dover, Delaware.
A federal court in Indiana on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed by a coalition of six Republican-led states that similarly attempted to stop the Biden administration from implementing the rescue plan. This case is unrelated.
The student debt forgiveness scheme may now proceed thanks to U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey of the Eastern District of Missouri, but the decision will probably be challenged.
According to Autey, the plaintiffs “have failed to establish standing,” which is necessary to prove that they have been harmed.
The complaint was brought in September by the Republican governor of Iowa, the Attorneys General of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and South Carolina, who claim the Biden administration’s proposal is “not remotely designed to address the consequences of the epidemic on federal student loan borrowers.”
The COVID-19 epidemic was proclaimed finished in Mr. Biden’s September interview with “60 Minutes,” according to the complaint, which also noted that the White House is still citing the continuing health emergency to support the plan.