Biden v. Nebraska and Dept. of Education v. Brown on Student Loan Forgiveness

In Biden v. Nebraska, the Supreme Court invalidated the Biden Administration’s use of the post-9/11 HEROES Act to cancel over $400 billion of student debt. The conservative 6-justice majority expanded on the previous term’s “major questions doctrine” to limit executive branch authority unless Congress clearly detailed the scope of delegation. The Justices unanimously dismissed a companion case filed by individuals who did not qualify for the cancelation in Dept. of Education v. Brown. In the Nebraska case, Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Brown Jackson said the states had no direct injury for standing so the Court should not have heard either case. The three dissenters also interpreted the HEROES Act to be a permissible delegation of authority for executive interpretation of loan relief under a declared national emergency.