A Trump-appointed federal judge in Texas blocked President Joe Biden’s plan to forgive up to $20,000 each for people holding some types of federal student loans, saying the law the White House cited for authorization does not give him such authority, USA Today reports.
The administration said the authority to forgive the loans rests in the 2003 HEROES Act. Judge Mark Pittman of the US District Court in North Texas, however, said the act does not abdicate the need for congressional approval.
“In this case, the HEROES Act – a law to provide loan assistance to military personnel defending our nation – does not provide the executive branch clear congressional authorization to create a $400 billion student loan forgiveness program,” Pittman wrote in his opinion. “The Program is thus an unconstitutional exercise of Congress’s legislative power and must be vacated.”