Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/22pdf/22-506_nmip.pdf
Page Number: 62

Cite as:  600 U. S. ____ (2023) 

15 

KAGAN, J., dissenting 

emergency.”  §1098bb(a)(1).  But the statute’s greater cov-
erage  came  with  no  sacrifice  of  potency.    When  the  law’s 
emergency conditions are satisfied, the Secretary again has
the power to “waive or modify any statutory or regulatory 
provision” relating to federal student-loan programs.  Ibid. 
Before turning to the scope of that power, note the strin-
gency of the triggering conditions.  Putting aside military
applications, the Secretary can act only when the President
has declared a national emergency.  See §1098ee(4).  Fur-
ther,  the  Secretary  may  provide  benefits  only  to  “affected 
individuals”—defined  as  anyone  who  “resides  or  is  em-
ployed in an area that is declared a disaster area . . . in con-
nection with a national emergency” or who has “suffered di-
rect economic hardship as a direct result of a . . . national 
emergency.”  §§1098ee(2)(C)–(D).  And the Secretary can do
only  what  he  determines  to  be  “necessary”  to  ensure  that
those individuals “are not placed in a worse position finan-
cially in relation to” their loans “because of ” the emergency. 
§1098bb(a)(2).  That  last  condition,  said  more  simply,  re-
quires the Secretary to show that the relief he awards does
not go beyond alleviating the economic effects of an emer-
gency on affected borrowers’ ability to repay their loans.

But if those conditions are met, the Secretary’s delegated
authority is capacious.  As in the prior statutes, the Secre-
tary has the linked power to “waive or modify any statutory 
or  regulatory  provision”  applying  to  the  student-loan  pro-
grams.  §1098bb(a)(1).  To start with the phrase after the
verbs, “the word ‘any’ has an expansive meaning.”  United 
States v. Gonzales, 520 U. S. 1, 5 (1997).  “Any” of the refer-
enced provisions means, well, any of those provisions.  And 
those  provisions  include  several  relating  to  student-loan 
in 
cancellation—more  precisely,  specifying  conditions 
which  the  Secretary  can  discharge  loan  principal.  See 
§§1087, 1087dd(g); 34 CFR §§682.402, 685.212 (2022).  Now 
go  back  to  the  twin  verbs:  “waive  or  modify.”    To  “waive”  
means  to  “abandon,  renounce,  or  surrender”—so  here,  to