As expected, SCOTUS rules against Joe Biden on student loans

Today is the last day of the Supreme Court's 2022-23 session. The last opinion issued was Biden, President of the United States v. Nebraska. This is Biden's student loan 'forgiveness' program. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion in the case. Chief Justice Roberts wrote "The issue presented in this case is whether the Secretary has authority under the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003 (HEROES Act) to depart from the existing provisions of the Education Act and establish a student loan forgiveness program that will cancel about $430 billion in debt principal and affect nearly all borrowers. Under the HEROES Act, the Secretary 'may waive or modify any statutory or regulatory provision applicable to the student financial assistance programs under title IV of the [Education Act] as the Secretary deems necessary in connection with a war or other military operation or national emergency.' §1098bb(a)(1). As relevant here, the Secretary may issue such waivers or modifications only 'as may be necessary to ensure' that 'recipients of student financial assistance under title IV of the [Education Act affected by a national emergency] are not placed in a worse position financially in relation to that financial assistance because of [the national emergency].' §§1098bb(a)(2)(A), 1098ee(2)(C)–(D).

Chief Justice Roberts continued with the majority opinion, writing "The HEROES Act allows the Secretary to 'waive or modify' existing statutory or regulatory provisions applicable to financial assistance programs under the Education Act, but does not allow the Secretary to rewrite that statute to the extent of canceling $430 billion of student loan principal."

Despite today's ruling, Biden says that he'll try to 'forgive that debt without involving Congress:

Apparently, Mr. Biden thinks that he's a king. Actually, he's deploying a cynical trick to trick younger voters into voting for him. Roberts continued, saying this:

(a) The text of the HEROES Act does not authorize the Secretary’s loan forgiveness program. The Secretary’s power under the Act to "modify" does not permit "basic and fundamental changes in the scheme" designed by Congress. MCI Telecommunications Corp. v. American Telephone & Telegraph Co., 512 U. S. 218, 225. Instead, "modify" carries "a connotation of increment or limitation," and must be read to mean "to change moderately or in minor fashion." Ibid. That is how the word is ordinarily used and defined, and the legal definition is no different. The authority to "modify" statutes and regulations allows the Secretary to make modest adjustments and additions to existing provisions, not transform them. Prior to the COVID–19 pandemic, "modifications" issued under the Act were minor and had limited effect. But the "modifications" challenged here create a novel and fundamentally different loan forgiveness program.

I'm betting that Mr. Biden is betting that he'll get shot down again but not until after the 2024 election. All he wants are the young people's votes. To a grifter like him, he doesn't care about the law. If he was into obeying the law, he wouldn't be the international grifter that he is.