Supreme Court Kills Biden's Student Loan Plan and Quotes Pelosi: 'He Does Not' Have That Power (June 30, 2023)

When the Supreme Court struck down President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, Chief Justice John Roberts brought in an unexpected witness: Nancy Pelosi.

“As then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi explained: ‘People think that the President of the United States has the power for debt forgiveness. He does not. He can postpone. He can delay. But he does not have that power. That has to be an act of Congress,’” Roberts wrote for the Court [1].

The video above covers the June 30, 2023, decision in Biden v. Nebraska, which ended a plan to cancel about $430 billion in student debt. Quotes are from the Court’s official opinion and the official transcript of Biden’s response, published by the American Presidency Project [1][2].

”It Does Not”

The 6-3 ruling turned on a 2003 law. The Biden administration claimed that the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act, known as the HEROES Act, let the education secretary wipe out debt for nearly all borrowers [1].

Roberts rejected that in three words. “The Secretary asserts that the HEROES Act grants him the authority to cancel $430 billion of student loan principal. It does not,” he wrote. The law allows the secretary to “waive or modify” existing provisions, “not to rewrite” them [1].

Roberts wrote for the Court’s six conservatives: Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. Barrett also filed a concurring opinion. Justice Elena Kagan dissented, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson [1].

”Who Has the Authority to Do It”

Roberts framed the case as a question of power, not policy. “The question here is not whether something should be done; it is who has the authority to do it,” he wrote [1].

He said the administration had not modified the law so much as replaced it. “In essence, the Secretary has drafted a new section of the Education Act from scratch by ‘waiving’ provisions root and branch and then filling the empty space with radically new text,” Roberts wrote [1].

He tied the ruling to the Court’s 2022 decision limiting the Environmental Protection Agency’s power over power plants. “Our recent decision in West Virginia v. EPA involved similar concerns over the exercise of administrative power,” he wrote [1].

Pelosi’s Own Words

The Pelosi quote came from a press conference in her office on July 28, 2021, the opinion noted [1]. It appears in the part of the opinion that answers Kagan’s dissent, right after Roberts noted that Congress had considered the idea and gone nowhere: Senate resolutions in 2020 and 2021 urging the president to cancel federal student loan debt, he wrote, “failed to reach a vote” [1].

The stakes were huge. Outstanding federal student loans totaled $1.6 trillion, held by 43 million borrowers, the Court said, citing the Congressional Budget Office [1].

”A Mistake, Was Wrong”

Biden spoke from the White House that afternoon. “Let me begin by saying I know there are millions of Americans—millions of Americans—in this country who feel disappointed and discouraged, or even a little bit angry, about the Court’s decision today on student debt. And I must admit I do too,” he said [2].

“I believe the Court’s decision to strike down my student debt relief program was a mistake, was wrong,” he said. He announced a new attempt under a different law: “We will ground this new approach in a different law than my original plan, the so-called Higher Education Act.” He added: “This new path is legally sound. It’s going to take longer, but, in my view, it’s the best path that remains to providing for as many borrowers as possible with debt relief” [2].

Then reporters pressed him. “Mr. President, the Court said you overstepped your authority. Did you overstep your authority?” one asked. “I think the Court misinterpreted the Constitution,” Biden said [2].

Another reporter asked: “Mr. President, why did you give millions of borrowers false hope? You’ve dated—doubted your own authority here in the past.” Biden answered: “I didn’t give any false hope” [2].

He also attacked Republicans who had their own pandemic business loans forgiven. “The average amount forgiven in the PPP—the pandemic loan program—average amount forgiven was $70,000,” he said. “The hypocrisy is stunning” [2].

By the Numbers

$430 billion: the student loan principal Biden’s plan would have canceled [1].
6-3: the Supreme Court’s vote striking it down [1].
43 million: federal student loan borrowers, holding $1.6 trillion [1].
2003: the year of the HEROES Act the administration relied on [1].
7 million-plus: borrowers later enrolled in Biden’s SAVE repayment plan [4].
$342 billion-plus: what the Education Department said SAVE would have cost taxpayers over 10 years [3].

What Happened Next

The fallback plans were blocked, too. The Biden administration’s later SAVE repayment plan, which the Trump Education Department called its “third and final attempt at mass federal student loan forgiveness,” was “blocked repeatedly by both district and appeals courts,” the department said [3].

The Trump administration moved to end it. On Dec. 9, 2025, the Education Department announced a proposed settlement with Missouri that, if a court approves it, would end the SAVE plan. The department said it would enroll no new borrowers, deny pending applications and move existing SAVE borrowers into other repayment plans [3]. More than 7 million borrowers were enrolled, FOX 13 reported [4].

“The law is clear: if you take out a loan, you must pay it back,” said Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent [4]. Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said her office “won in court every time” [3].

For the day Biden opened his original application, see HYGO News’ page on that event.