Having a president flippantly disregard the highest court in the land seems quite undemocratic to me – and it fits with a broader pattern of executive overreach throughout Joe Biden's presidency.
Ingrid JacquesUSA TODAY
President Joe Biden loves to harp on how he’s the only one who can save us from democracy-destroying Donald Trump.
Well, let’s take a look at what Biden boasted recently on social media:“The Supreme Court tried to block me from relieving student debt. But they didn’t stop me. I’ve relieved student debt for over 5 million Americans. I’m going to keep going."
Having a president flippantly disregard the highest court in the land seems quite undemocratic to me – and it fits with a broader pattern of executive overreach throughout Biden’s presidency.
Now, two new federal judges have dealt a blow to Biden’s continued efforts to wipe out huge amounts of student loans. More details on that in a bit.
Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Biden’s broad attempt to unilaterally cancel billions in student debt as unconstitutional. Rather than consider the severity of this rebuke, Biden immediately struck out to do the same thing, albeit in slightly different ways.
Just imagine the outrage if Trump tried to do something similar.
Even Obama-appointed judges tell Biden he's out of line
The same day the Supreme Court ruled against Biden’s first loan cancellation plan, the White House weighed in.
“No President has fought harder for student debt relief than President Biden, and he’s not done yet,” the statement said. “President Biden and Vice President (Kamala) Harris will not let Republican elected officials succeed in denying hardworking Americans the relief they need.”
Biden wasn’t kidding about not being done. Since that ruling, he’s rolled out several new loan forgiveness schemes that abuse his executive authority just as badly as he did before – and even worse.
Not my debt: I just paid my taxes. Biden's pandering on student loans will end up costing us all more.
While Biden and his administration have painted the efforts to quash his student loan cancellation as a conspiracy of “Republicans” and a conservative high court, he’ll have a harder time explaining these latest rulings.
Last Monday, two federal judges in Kansas and Missouri blocked the Biden administration from granting further debt forgiveness under the president’s wide-ranging “SAVE” income-based repayment plan that either drastically or completely lowers monthly repayments and allows for much quicker loan cancellation.
Estimates have put the cost of the new plan at $475 billion over 10 years – even more than Biden’s original plan that was struck down.
These aren’t Trump judges. Both U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree and U.S. District Judge John Ross are appointees of former President Barack Obama, whom Biden served under as vice president.
Crabtree said the Higher Education Act of 1965 does not allow for this kind of “unprecedented and dramatic expansion” of income-driven repayment plans.
Similarly, Ross held that Biden’s Education Department “overstepped its authority by promulgating a loan forgiveness provision as part of the SAVE program.”
Such large expenditures must go through Congress – a lesson Biden can’t seem to learn, even though he spent most of his career in the legislative branch.
As White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated last week, “Today’s rulings won’t stop our administration from using every tool available to give students and borrowers the relief they need.”
It's not just illegal. Biden's actions are making us go broke.
Biden’s big-spending plan to buy votes isn’t just illegal. It’s also fundamentally harming our bottom line as a country.
That “forgiven” debt doesn’t just disappear, but is borne by every taxpayer.
The Congressional Budget Office’s latest baseline report shows that “spending this year will be the largest it’s ever been outside a crisis – far exceeding pre-pandemic levels,” according to an analysis by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why.
Big spending Biden: Great job, Biden! Social Security is going broke and debt payments are breaking the bank
Interest payments on our quickly rising national debt – and higher interest rates due to inflation – account for about half of the spending hike.
The CBO also projects that the deficit will reach $1.9 trillion this fiscal year, and that the national debt will top $50 trillion 10 years from now – if taxes and spending remain unchanged.
These are serious numbers and demand serious action. What we keep seeing from Biden, however, is just the opposite.
No wonder more key voters in swing states ( the so-called deciders) say they trust Trump to handle threats to our democracy than Biden.
Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at [email protected] or on X, formerly Twitter: @Ingrid_Jacques.
