Justice Clarence Thomas questioned US Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar about the distinction between the Biden administration’s student loan debt forgiveness program and grants that Congress needs to appropriate.
“There’s some discussion in the briefs …. that this is in effect a cancellation of a debt, that’s really what we’re talking about, and that as a cancellation of $400 billion in debt, in effect this is a grant of $400 billion and it runs headlong into Congress’ appropriations authority,” Thomas said.
Prelogar said that implementing the debt relief program doesn’t require that any money be drawn from the Treasury, so it doesn’t strictly raise an appropriations issue.
She also said while loan forgiveness would “of course” result in cancellation of a measure of debt for borrowers, she doesn’t “think that that is materially different from the kind of effects you can see from other types of authority that’s long been exercised under the HEROES Act.”
Thomas said he didn’t think she fully explained why you could not argue that the education secretary could just grant $400 billion — which would require appropriations from Congress.
“The argument is that you are in effect doing that without appropriations from Congress,” Thomas said.
Prelogar gave an example of relief in periods of extended deferment for soldiers fighting abroad, in which the government has paid interest on loans.
“That’s exactly what Congress intended under this authority; it’s to make those changes to the program in direct response to and in direct proportion to the situation the secretary confronts that will otherwise leave that borrower worse off,” she said.
