Student loan borrowers may soon begin applying for forgiveness of loans of up to $20,000, despite the uncertainty about the future of the Biden administration’s controversial debt relief plan.
There have been at least four lawsuits against the plan in recent weeks, but President Biden recently said he wants to fight aggressively, saying, “Let’s do it.”
Experts disagree on the merits of litigation, but they do agree on one thing. The borrower who applied for the waiver first may have an advantage. Financial aid expert Mark Kantrowitz told his Yahoo Finance:
The Biden administration drew the ire of many Republicans, and even his own supporters, when he unveiled a debt relief plan in August. will be waived and an additional $10,000 will be waived for Pell grant recipients. Some critics argue that the plan does not address the underlying problems that make college tuition so expensive, while others argue that the plan exceeds the constitutional powers of the executive branch. It is claimed that
While some of these claims may win in court, experts say forgiveness is more likely to follow if the borrower can accept the application before the court makes a decision.
“I think it’s going to be an extraordinary relief to get it back if someone cancels,” Persis Yu of the Center for Student Borrower Protection told Yahoo Finance.
This is subject to the ongoing application process. Lawyers opposing the program are looking for a judge to freeze the program in situ while the case is ongoing. No.
“If we bring it to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Biden administration will lose.”
The Biden administration is about to dismiss the lawsuit, according to Mark Goldwain of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
And if the lawsuit proceeds? “There’s a good chance a court will look at this and say the president has trampled power. Spending is really the power of Congress,” Goldwain said.
Kantrowitz predicted, “If it goes to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Biden administration will lose.”
But before that, opponents must show that they stand. So the plan for forgiveness ends up hurting them. All three of his ongoing lawsuits—one in Indiana, another in Arizona, and a fourth with the attorneys general of his six states—address ongoing issues and address various I have used legal arguments to make my case. For example, the Arizona Attorney General’s lawsuit says that forgiveness hurt because his office relies on a student loan repayment assistance program to recruit staff.
A fourth case brought to Wisconsin was recently dismissed over pending issues.
If the state cannot establish a position, the merits of each of these cases are immaterial. As such, the Biden administration has been adapting the program in real time to try to file lawsuits quickly.
As one recent example, the Coalition of Attorneys General argued they stood because allowing borrowers to consolidate loans hurt state loan agencies. We responded quickly with new restrictions on integration designed to dampen the debate.
The Biden administration looks optimistic that its strategy will work. White House Press Secretary Carine Jean-Pierre recently said debtors will be able to access a “short online form” later this month.
“We want the process to be simple and clear, and we want to make sure the user experience is a positive one,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona recently told Yahoo Finance. Possible.
If everything goes according to plan from the management’s perspective, Cardona’s agency will approve the applications in sequence and send the information to the loan servicer for execution within a few weeks.
wide range of possible outcomes
In addition to the current lawsuits, more lawsuits are likely once the program is officially announced.
Kantrowitz said legislative challengers could sue if they could resolve the legislative issue. He said it’s a new spending program that the Congressional Budget Office estimates will cost him $400 billion, but it’s unclear whether the law allows the executive branch to forgive student debt. says no.
Yu disagrees, telling Yahoo Finance that he believes the borrower’s debt will eventually be written off. “The administration has done its homework [and] “This policy and announcement has a solid legal basis.”
If the case progresses, the Supreme Court will be able to hear the arguments sooner, so the borrower may have a small window to approve and process the pardon by then.
Ben Werschkul is the Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.
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