Several organizations, including the NAACP and National Education Association, are planning to protest outside the Supreme Court on Feb. 28, when it is scheduled to hear oral arguments on two lawsuits challenging President Joe Biden's plan to forgive up to $20,000 in student loan debt for federal aid borrowers.
Wisdom Cole, the NAACP's director of youth and college, told The Hill on Wednesday "generations of people" will participate to make their voices heard.
"The battle to cancel student debt has been a long one," Cole said. "We know that Biden's plan is legal; it is supported; it is backed up."
According to a news release, among other groups expected to participate in the People's Rally for Student Debt Cancellation are the American Federation of Teachers, the Center for Responsible Lending, the National Consumer Law Center, the National Council of Jewish Women, the National Urban League, the Service Employees International Union, and the Student Debt Crisis Center.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Congress paused student loan debt repayments. President Joe Biden campaigned on forgiving student loan debt and presented a plan in August that would cancel up to $10,000 in federal loan debt and up to $20,000 for recipients of Pell Grants, which are awarded to low-income students.
According to the Department of Education, as of late November, more than 26 million people have applied to be considered for debt relief; and 16 million have been approved.
"But court orders are blocking the department from discharging student loan debt and accepting additional applications," the department said in a news release.
Republican lawmakers have been arguing that relief at the scale Biden proposed should require congressional approval, but the Biden administration has stood by its authority to use the HEROES Act of 2003 to cancel the debt. It said the act gives the education secretary the ability to waive or modify balances in connection with a national emergency.
An amicus brief filed Feb. 2 by the Cato Institute disputes the Biden administration's claim of authority under the HEROES Act, saying Congress did not give the education secretary such broad authority regarding student loan debt forgiveness. It said the act was passed by Congress in response to the Iraq War and to ensure military members could have their student loan payments deferred while serving their country.
The brief also pointed to the Supreme Court previously striking down "executive actions that were based on novel and expansive readings of long-standing laws," such as the "vaccine or test" mandate by Occupational Safety and Health Administration; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's eviction moratorium; and greenhouse gas emission restrictions set by the Environmental Protection Agency.
"One common theme of these decisions is particularly relevant here: the court's justified skepticism of an agency suddenly discovering novel and sweeping powers that it had never claimed before," the brief read.
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