The United States Supreme Court agreed on Thursday (December 1st) to urgently review a landmark measure by President Joe Biden aimed at canceling the debt of millions of students. The high court will dedicate a hearing to it in February or March, according to a brief order posted on its website. In the meantime, she has refused to lift the blocking of this policy by the courts.
The Democratic president announced at the end of August the erasure by the federal government of part of the colossal American student debt, up to 10,000 or even 20,000 dollars per borrower depending on the case. This project, whose cost to public finances is estimated at 400 billion dollars, was immediately taken to court by several conservative states which denounced an abuse of power in the run-up to the mid-term elections.
In mid-November, a federal appeals court awarded them a stage victory and blocked implementation of the measure. The Democratic administration then turned to the Supreme Court to ask it to overturn this decision.
At the same time, the government has extended until June a moratorium on the debt of millions of students put in place at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Thursday, the White House hasgreetedthe high court’s decision to review the case, repeating that the provision was “legal” and “needed to help more than 40 million eligible Americans struggling with the weight of their debt“.