If the Supreme Court Strikes Down Student-Loan Forgiveness, It Could Have 'Startling Implications,' Biden Says

Source: Business Insider

It's a critical year for millions of student-loan borrowers as Biden's plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt will have its day at the Supreme Court on February 28. For over two months, implementation of the relief has been blocked due to two lawsuits against the administration. One was filed by two student-loan borrowers who did not qualify for the full $20,000 amount of relief, and another by six Republican-led states who said the relief would hurt their states' tax revenues, along with that of student-loan company MOHELA.

While the administration has pushed back on the arguments in both cases and claimed neither of them have the standing to sue, the latter — involving MOHELA — is complex, given that the company itself denied it had any involvement in the case in November following the 8th Circuit ruling that blocked the relief.

Adding to that complexity, the Justice Department wrote in a legal filing on Wednesday night that upholding the 8th Circuit's ruling would mean that "banks could sue anyone who causes financial harm to their borrowers, credit-card companies could sue anyone who causes financial harm to their customers, and governments could sue anyone who causes financial harm to their taxpayers."