JERSEY CITY, N.J. – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) issued the following statement in response to the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision in Biden v. Nebraska:
SCOTUS Strikes Down Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness Plan
Today’s MAGA Supreme Court majority decision in Biden v. Nebraska is ludicrous. Their assertion that President Biden’s student loan forgiveness program was not in line with Congressional intent under the HEROES Act is plain wrong. And it deprives tens of millions of Americans of desperately-needed relief from crushing student loans that stifle their life opportunities.
By replacing the wisdom of elected representatives with the dictates of six unelected justices, this decision further erodes our constitutional order and inflicts economic pain on hard-working Americans who deserve a real chance to thrive and get ahead.
Now more than ever, Congress has a moral and economic imperative to make college more affordable, improve student loan programs, and expand access to student debt relief by simplifying the public service loan forgiveness program and reforming income-driven repayment regulations for eligible borrowers.
Additionally, given the chaos created by this decision, the Department of Education must prioritize finalizing and implementing a unified plan to reform existing student loan programs as I have previously called for.
We must act where the Supreme Court and extreme right-wing politicians have failed to ensure we improve the lives of hard-working Americans who deserve better from their government. As a first-generation college graduate, I will never stop fighting so that more students can afford college and live the American Dream.
