American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten railed against challenges to President Joe Biden’s student loan cancellation plan outside of the Supreme Court Tuesday as oral arguments began for two cases that could put the proposal on ice, video shows.
Students, politicians, and activists rallied outside the Supreme Court late Monday night and throughout Tuesday as the high bench heard arguments for two cases to determine whether the Biden Administration’s plan to cancel an estimated $400 billion in student loans is constitutional.
Weingarten said it is “not right” that student loan lenders and corporations oppose canceling student loans when many businesses received aid during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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“And frankly, and this is what really pisses me off, during the pandemic we understood that small businesses were hurting and we helped them, and it didn’t go to the Supreme Court to challenge it,” Weingarten said, according to a video posted by Jake Schneider. “Big businesses were hurting and we helped them, and it didn’t go to the Supreme Court to challenge it.”
According to the Associated Press, the Biden Administration attempted to use the 2003 Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students (HEROES) Act, which permits the Department of Education (DOE) to eliminate debt during a national emergency.
Former President Donald Trump issued a national emergency during the COVID-19 pandemic which will end on May 11, but the Biden administration maintains that student loan borrowers will still be impacted.
“All of a sudden, when it’s about our students, they challenge it. The corporations challenge it. The student loan lenders challenge it,” Weingarten continued. “That is not right. That is not fair and that is what we are fighting, as well, when we say cancel student debt.”
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The court heard arguments for Biden v. Nebraska, which was brought by a coalition of states that allege the department overstepped its statutory authority, and Department of Education v. Brown, which two student loan borrowers filed.
The administration’s plan would cancel $20,000 of debt for borrowers who received Pell grants and $10,000 for borrowers who did not.
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