Durbin Statement on Supreme Court Striking Down Biden Administration’s Student Loan Debt Relief Plan in Overreaching Decision

CHICAGO – Today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement regarding the Supreme Court’s ruling in Biden v. Nebraska:

“Today’s ruling by the Supreme Court hurts the tens of millions of Americans who are plagued by student loan debt in pursuit of a quality education, particularly low-and middle-income borrowers and communities of color.  Working families are buried in so much student debt that they can’t afford to buy a home, start a business, save for emergencies, or fully participate in the economy.

“Nearly ninety percent of the relief dollars in the President’s plan would go to borrowers earning less than $75,000 a year.  The majority of these debts are held by families who have zero net worth.  These borrowers did what they were told is right.  They attended college, took out loans, and hoped that their hard work would pay off.  Instead, too many borrowers are saddled with unaffordable debts.  How will this decision impact their lives? 

“We had a real opportunity to help these student borrowers reduce their debt and get their lives back on track—an outcome that would have been great for them and this nation.  Unfortunately, as Justice Kagan noted in her dissent, ‘[i]n every respect, the Court today exceed[ed] its proper, limited role in our Nation’s governance’ by striking down this program.  I’m sorely disappointed that this Supreme Court coldly severed this lifeline that the Biden Administration rightfully and lawfully had offered hard-working Americans.” 

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