Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/22pdf/22-506_nmip.pdf
Page Number: 11

6 

BIDEN v. NEBRASKA 

Opinion of the Court 

Memorandum from R. Rubinstein to B. DeVos, p. 8 (Jan. 12, 
2021).  After a change in Presidential administrations and 
shortly  before  adoption  of  the  challenged  policy,  however,
the Office of General Counsel “formally rescinded” its ear-
lier legal memorandum and issued a replacement reaching 
the  opposite  conclusion.  87  Fed.  Reg.  52945  (2022).  The 
new  memorandum  determined  that  the  HEROES  Act 
“grants the Secretary authority that could be used to effec-
tuate  a  program  of  targeted  loan  cancellation  directed  at
addressing  the  financial  harms  of  the  COVID–19  pan-
demic.”  Id., at 52944.  Upon receiving this new opinion, the
Secretary issued his proposal to cancel student debt under
the  HEROES  Act.    App.  257–259.    Two  months  later,  he 
published the required notice of his “waivers and modifica-
tions” in the Federal Register.  87 Fed. Reg. 61512–61514.
The terms of the debt cancellation plan are straightfor-
ward: For borrowers with an adjusted gross income below 
$125,000 in either 2020 or 2021 who have eligible federal 
loans, the Department of Education will discharge the bal-
ance  of  those  loans  in  an  amount  up  to  $10,000  per  bor-
rower.2  Id.,  at  61514  (“modif[ying]  the  provisions  of ”  20 
U. S. C. §§1087, 1087dd(g); 34 CFR pt. 647, subpt. D (2022); 
34 CFR §§682.402, 685.212).  Borrowers who previously re-
ceived Pell Grants qualify for up to $20,000 in loan cancel-
lation.  87 Fed. Reg. 61514.  Eligible loans include “Direct 
Loans,  FFEL  loans  held  by  the  Department  or  subject  to
collection by a guaranty agency, and Perkins Loans held by 
the Department.”  Ibid.  The Department of Education esti-
mates that about 43 million borrowers qualify for relief, and 
the  Congressional  Budget  Office  estimates  that  the  plan 
will cancel about $430 billion in debt principal.  See App.
119; CBO Letter 3. 

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2 A borrower filing “jointly or as a Head of Household, or as a qualifying 
widow(er),” qualifies for loan cancellation with an adjusted gross income 
lower than $250,000.  87 Fed. Reg. 61514.