Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/22pdf/22-506_nmip.pdf
Page Number: 27.0

22 

BIDEN v. NEBRASKA 

Opinion of the Court 

that Congress has chosen not to enact itself.  West Virginia, 
597 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 27).  Congress is not unaware
of the challenges facing student borrowers.  “More than 80 
student loan forgiveness bills and other student loan legis-
lation” were considered by Congress during its 116th ses-
sion alone.  M. Kantrowitz, Year in Review: Student Loan 
Forgiveness  Legislation,  Forbes,  Dec.  24,  2020.8    And  the  
discussion is not confined to the halls of Congress.  Student 
loan  cancellation  “raises  questions  that  are  personal  and 
emotionally charged, hitting fundamental issues about the 
structure  of  the  economy.”    J.  Stein,  Biden  Student  Debt 
Plan  Fuels  Broader  Debate  Over  Forgiving  Borrowers,
Washington Post, Aug. 31, 2022. 

The sharp debates generated by the Secretary’s extraor-
dinary  program  stand  in  stark  contrast  to  the  unanimity 
with which Congress passed the HEROES Act.  The dissent 
asks us to “[i]magine asking the enacting Congress: Can the
Secretary use his powers to give borrowers more relief when 
an emergency has inflicted greater harm?”  Post, at 27–28. 
The dissent “can’t believe” the answer would be no.  Post, at 
28.  But  imagine  instead  asking  the  enacting  Congress  a 
more pertinent question: “Can the Secretary use his powers
to abolish $430 billion in student loans, completely cancel-
ing loan balances for 20 million borrowers, as a pandemic 
winds down to its end?”  We can’t believe the answer would 
be yes.  Congress did not unanimously pass the HEROES 
Act with such power in mind.  “A decision of such magni-
tude  and  consequence”  on  a  matter  of  “ ‘earnest  and  pro-
found  debate  across  the  country’ ”  must  “res[t]  with  Con-
gress  itself,  or  an  agency  acting  pursuant  to  a  clear 
delegation from that representative body.”  West Virginia, 
597 U. S., at ___, ___ (slip op., at 28, 31) (quoting Gonzales 
—————— 

8 Resolutions were also introduced in 2020 and 2021 “[c]alling on the 
President . . . to take executive action to broadly cancel Federal student 
loan  debt.”    See  S.  Res.  711,  116th  Cong.,  2d  Sess.  (2020);  S.  Res.  46,
117th Cong., 1st Sess. (2021).  Those resolutions failed to reach a vote.