(UnitedVoice.com) – During the week ending on June 30, the US Supreme Court delivered its final round of decisions for the 2022-2023 term and released a list of its new cases for the next one, beginning in October. With a solid majority of six to three, the panel’s conservative justices handed several victories to the Right.
On June 29, the court effectively ended the use of affirmative action (race-based policies) in admission programs at the nation’s private and public colleges and universities in Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College. Chief Justice John Roberts exempted the nation’s military academies from the ruling in his majority opinion.
The following day, the court ruled that an evangelical Christian website designer from Colorado had a right to refuse services to gay couples under free speech protections provided by the First Amendment. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the majority, explaining that the ruling protected business owners providing other services involving speech, like movie directors, speechwriters, and artists.
The court also struck down President Joe Biden’s program to allow eligible individuals to cancel as much as $20,000 in student loan debt. Roughly 43 million recipients were eligible to participate in the plan at an estimated cost of about $430 billion to taxpayers.
The court’s ruling in Biden v. Nebraska didn’t end the controversy over the president’s scheme to bypass Congress and eliminate student debt.
Top Conservative Blasts Biden’s Effort To Cancel Student Loan Debt
On July 3, New Hampshire’s former governor and Senator Judd Gregg blasted Biden’s efforts to forgive student loans during an interview with CNBC “Squawk Box” co-anchor Joe Kernen. He called the plan the “biggest vote-buying scheme ever undertaken” by a president.
Gregg explained that millions of people would receive thousands of dollars under the scheme. “I’ll vote for you to [receive] 20,000 bucks,” he noted. He said that’s why the Biden Administration concocted the idea — to give that massive break to “all these folks moving into the next election.” Gregg also pointed out that the plan would effectively spend nearly half a trillion dollars and add it to the national debt.
Biden Reacts to SCOTUS Decision
Biden issued a brief statement claiming his plan would have provided a “lifeline [to] millions of hardworking Americans.” He also accused Republicans of being hypocrites for supporting the forgiveness of PPP loans to businesses.
Later in the day, the White House detailed its plan to work around the Supreme Court’s decision by providing debt relief, using the Education Secretary’s authority under the Higher Education Act. The administration attempted to use the HEROES Act to provide student loan forgiveness in the program struck down by SCOTUS.
The Department of Education also created a 12-month “on-ramp” for student loan repayments, beginning in October and lasting through the end of September 2024. Under that program, borrowers missing monthly payments won’t be considered delinquent, reported to credit bureaus, or referred to debt collectors.
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