Progressive lawmakers and unions expressed outrage and issued calls for action on Friday over the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Joe Biden’s $430 billion student debt cancellation plan .
In a 6-3 decision, the court’s conservative judges blocked Biden’s attempt to forgive a proportion of the student loans of 40 million Americans.
Joe Biden was expected to respond later Friday and announce further action to find other ways to provide student loan relief.
But as the president considered his options, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer issued A declaration calling the court’s decision “disappointing and cruel”. He also criticized the right-wing bench as equating them with Donald Trump’s right-wing “Make America Great Again” voter base, calling the decision of Maga’s “Republican-controlled Supreme Court.”
Schumer also slammed the court’s ‘hypocrisy’, deeming Biden’s loan cancellation plan unconstitutional while his top conservatives Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito are embroiled in ethics scandals for accepting luxury gifts from billionaires conservatives without declaring them.
“The hypocrisy is clear: while judges accept lavish six-figure gifts, they dare not help Americans struggling with student debt, instead siding with powerful and wealthy interests,” added Schumer.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a long-time student loan forgiveness advocate, said the court “refuses to follow the plain language of the student loan forgiveness law.”
But she warned on Twitter“This fight is not over. The president has more tools to write off student debt – and he needs to use them.
New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pointed out that Biden still has the power to seek student loan forgiveness.
“It is very important to note this Scot [supreme court of the United States] the decision does NOT remove Biden’s ability to apply for student loan forgiveness,” Ocasio-Cortez said via Twitter.
“Administrator Biden can use the HEA (Higher Ed Act) – our position all along – to continue loan forgiveness before payments resume. They should do it as soon as possible,” she added.
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) called the decision “a frontal attack on the future of young people.”
“Between yesterday’s affirmative action case and today’s decision on student debt, the court decided that if you or your family have the ability and means, you can be successful, but if you are a wrestler or a wrestler, you are on your own,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten.
Voting rights organizer and former Democratic candidate for Georgia governor Stacey Abrams has criticized the court for its latest ruling as well as Friday’s ruling in favor of a Colorado web designer who refuses to provide services for same-sex marriages because of his Christian beliefs. , a decision that critics say also opens the door for companies that discriminate on the basis of race, gender identity, religion or disability.
“This week, [Scotus] canceled the ability to improve the currency of racism, legalized discrimination against the LGBTQ community, and blocked access to debt relief for millions. Real people. Real lives. real consequences, Abrams said in a tweetwhile urging people to keep voting.
Conservative lawmakers, meanwhile, celebrated Friday’s decision, marking yet another victory for Republicans in the Senate who confirmed the three right-wing justices appointed under Donald Trump.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called the loan cancellation plan “socialism” and a “raw deal for hard-working taxpayers.”
McConnell said: “The President of the United States cannot misuse 20-year emergency powers to line the pockets of his high income base and sucker working families who choose not to go into debt. The court’s decision today is a blow to the Democrats’ distorted and overblown view of executive power.