If neither taxpayers nor the states themselves have Standing to challenge the Biden Administration, it seems unclear as to who exactly would have the ability to bring suit. But a recent decision from a Texas federal judge may have provided the answer.
In Brown v. US Department of Education, Judge Mark Pittman answered the threshold question of Standing. “Plaintiffs Myra Brown and Alexander Taylor both have student loans” the Court stated. “Brown is ineligible for any debt forgiveness under the Program because her loans are commercially held…(a)nd Taylor is ineligible for the full $20,000 in debt forgiveness under the Program because he did not receive a Pell Grant…(b)ecause Brown loses out on $20,000 in debt forgiveness and Taylor loses out on $10,000, they disagree with the lines drawn for the Program’s eligibility criteria.”
Judge Pittman discussed the Biden Administration’s core position – nobody has Standing to challenge the Program “because where the government is providing a benefit, nobody is harmed by the existence of that benefit.” However, the Court noted that “(t)he Supreme Court has recognized that a plaintiff has standing to challenge a government benefit in many cases. See, e.g., Ne. Fla. Chapter of Associated Gen. Contractors of Am. v. City of Jacksonville…(holding that plaintiffs who did not qualify for government benefits had standing).” (Citation omitted.)
The government argued that “Plaintiffs’ ‘unhappiness that some other borrowers are receiving a greater benefit than they are’ is not a concrete interest.” “But,” Judge Pittman wrote, “this is untrue. Plaintiffs do not argue that they are injured because other people are receiving loan forgiveness. Their injury—no matter how many people are receiving loan forgiveness—is that they personally did not receive forgiveness…Plaintiffs have a concrete interest in having their debts forgiven.” Thus, these Plaintiffs “inability to obtain the full benefit of debt forgiveness under the Program flows directly from the Program’s eligibility requirements,” giving them Standing to maintain a lawsuit against the Department of Education.
On the merits, Judge Pittman found, as have so many other Courts during the almost two years that the Biden Administration has been in office, that “the executive branch unconstitutionally exercises ‘legislative powers’ vested in Congress” when it used the HEROES Act as the basis for its Student Loan Forgiveness Program. As the Court stated, “the HEROES Act— a law to provide loan assistance to military personnel defending our nation—does not provide the executive branch clear congressional authorization to create a $400 billion student loan forgiveness program. The Program is thus an unconstitutional exercise of Congress’s legislative power and must be vacated.”
“(T)he HEROES Act does not mention loan forgiveness,” the Court states. “If Congress provided clear congressional authorization for $400 billion in student loan forgiveness via the HEROES Act, it would have mentioned loan forgiveness…’enabling legislation’ like the HEROES Act is not an ‘open book to which the agency may add pages and change the plot line.’” (Citations omitted.)
No doubt, Judge Pittman’s decision will be appealed. In the meantime, according to Fox Business, “(a)fter the (8th Circuit decision) temporarily halted the debt forgiveness plan, the Biden administration released a statement via the Education Department that encouraged borrowers to continue to apply for forgiveness. Although the administration can’t officially cancel student loans during the halt, it said it is moving ahead with preparing for forgiveness and collecting applications. ”
In other words, the Biden Administration is dead-set on the implementation of this program – despite its lack of legal authority to do so.
It bears noting that the costs of this Program are objectively horrendous. “Joe Biden’s plan to cancel…student loan debt for federal aid borrowers is expected to cost about $400 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The estimate is for a period of the next 30 years and will add to the country’s deficit, it said… (a)s of June 30, the CBO estimates federal student loan debt to be at $1.6 trillion among 43 million borrowers…(a)bout 95% of borrowers meet the criteria for forgiveness and about 45% of borrowers will have their balances completely wiped out, the CBO said.”
These financial facts underline the importance of the 8th Circuit’s stay, and the decision from the Texas federal court to stop the Biden Administration from redistributing individual student debt to those of us who did not incur that debt.
Judge John Wilson (ret.) served on the bench in NYC.
Illustration: Pixabay