Supreme Court declines to take up student loan case

The Supreme Court on Thursday declined an emergency appeal by a group of Wisconsin taxpayers who had challenged President Joe Biden's student-loan forgiveness plan.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett denied without comment the emergency court filing, which had asked the court to block Mr. Biden's plan. The matter had gone to Barrett because she oversees requests arising from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, where the request was filed. 

She did not refer the matter to the full court. The decision was not a reflection on the merits of the case, but rather indicates the court will not get involved before the matter has played out in the lower courts. 

The Brown County Taxpayers Association, represented by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, on Wednesday filed an emergency request with Barrett asking the high court to intervene while proceedings continue in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. 

In the filing, the group argued that Biden administration officials "exceeded their constitutional powers and their plan violates constitutional rights." 

Mr. Biden announced in August that he would be taking action to forgive up to $20,000 of federal student-loan debt for Americans earning under $125,000 a year or $250,000 a year for couples. Up to 43 million borrowers will be provided relief under the plan, of which nearly 20 million people will have their remaining debt fully canceled, according to the White House. 

The application for relief went live earlier this week, and the White House said Monday that 8 million Americans had already applied. Mr. Biden is set to give remarks on Friday at Delaware State University in Dover, Delaware, focusing on student debt relief. 

In a separate case, a federal judge in Indiana on Thursday rejected a lawsuit from a group of six Republican-led states that also sought to block the Biden administration from moving forward with the relief plan. 

U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey of the Eastern District of Missouri's order allows the student loan forgiveness plan to move forward, although the ruling is likely to be appealed. 

Autey said the "Plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate standing," which is required to show they have suffered harm. 

The Attorneys General from Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina and Iowa's Republican governor filed the lawsuit in Sept., arguing the Biden administration's plan is "not remotely tailored to address the effects of the pandemic on federal student loan borrowers." The lawsuit also cited Mr. Biden's Sept. interview with "60 Minutes," in which he declared the COVID-19 pandemic over, noting that the White House is still using the ongoing health emergency to justify the plan.

Jan Crawford and Melissa Quinn contributed to this report.

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