George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said on Thursday the Biden administration seemed determined to bypass Congress to forgive student loans despite the Supreme Court halting a forgiveness program.
The high court refused to lift an appeals court’s order blocking the administration’s latest effort to forgive student loan debt, which it proposed following a 2023 Supreme Court decision that struck down a different student debt forgiveness proposal from President Joe Biden.
Turley said that the Biden administration was trying to find some legal justification to forgive student debt, when “The Story” guest host Gillian Turner asked him about a statement from Vice President Kamala Harris and the White House.
Read: Chris Cuomo Questions Whether Trump Will Give RFK Jr. ‘A Real Position’ If He Is Elected
“That’s the problem, that’s why they had to come up with a new way of doing this. The Supreme Court previously struck down efforts under the Heroes Act to forgive hundreds of billions of dollars and basically said you need to go to Congress,” Turley said. “That’s what happens in a democratic system, you go and get the votes in Congress. Instead of doing that they, came up with another statute and said okay we’re just going to do it unilaterally under the NEA, this education act and now these lower courts are beginning to question that.”
“But it really comes down to that posting. We have a system where before you give away billions of dollars, you really should go to Congress and ask them,” Turley continued. “We have towering debt in this country. But Harris is running on this, this is part of the joy campaign. Nothing says joy as much as not having to pay your debts.”
Read: Alan Dershowitz: Israel’s Preemptive Attack On Hezbollah Might Have Prevented A Wider War
Biden announced in August 2022 that those earning up to $125,000 a year would have $10,000 in student debt forgiven, with Pell Grant recipients having up to $20,000 forgiven.
“What’s happened here is after a stinging defeat in front of the Supreme Court saying you are circumventing the Constitution – an unconstitutional effort to give away hundreds of billions of dollars, instead of going to Congress and saying okay let’s have the vote they came up with another statute. And if the NEA fails, I don’t know what they will do. Maybe they’re going to say it falls under FEMA’s hurricane fund. They seem to be willing to do any type of argument, except an argument to Congress, to ask representatives of the people, ‘Do you want to write off hundreds of billions of dollars in debt?’”
Please make a small donation to the Tampa Free Press to help sustain independent journalism. Your contribution enables us to continue delivering high-quality, local, and national news coverage.
Android Users: Download our free app to stay up-to-date on the latest news.
Connect with us: Follow the Tampa Free Press on Facebook and Twitter for breaking news and updates.
Sign up: Subscribe to our free newsletter for a curated selection of top stories delivered straight to your inbox.
First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.