There is an important issue that reached the Supreme Court in Biden v. Nebraska, 600 U.S. 477 (2023). President Biden and his Vice President, Kamala Harris, are on the record as favoring the use of presidential power to enact student loan relief without an appropriation by Congress. This is both a bad idea and is unlawful, as the Supreme Court explained in Biden v. Nebraska last year. Since then, President Biden has continued his unlawful attempts to spend money without an appropriation from Congress, an appropriation that is required under Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution.
It is worthwhile, however, to consider the merits of this as a policy idea. Retroactive relief from student loans seems unfair to those who have been paying student loan debt or who never borrowed money in the first place. There are some, however, like Sen. Bernie Sanders, who are on the record as believing that federal money ought to be used to pay for anyone's college tuition. Is this a good idea?
It is certainly true that college tuition, which costs more than $100,000 a year, is unaffordable by 99% of the American people. I am acutely aware of this, having paid for my four children's college tuition myself. Should taxpayers play a role in financing a college education? This is an important public policy question, which will certainly come up in the next two years.
