In a blog post building on points he made in our recent debate at his school, Cornell law Professor Michael Dorf argues that the plaintiffs in the Supreme Court cases challenging the legality of President Biden's massive student loan forgiveness plan should be denied, standing, based on rules disfavoring standing for "third parties." While his argument is clever, it overlooks the key point that third-party standing restrictions only apply to claims based on the constitutional rights of individuals, not those addressing structural limitations on government power. In addition, if the Court were to accept his reasoning, it would set a dangerous precedent blocking most legal challenges to illegal government spending.
