US progressives call for urgent actions after court blocks student debt relief

Progressive lawmakers and unions expressed outrage and made calls to action on Friday over the US supreme court ruling striking down Joe Biden’s $430bn student debt forgiveness plan.

In a 6-3 decision, the conservative-leaning justices of the court blocked Biden’s attempt to forgive a proportion of 40 million Americans’ student loans.

Joe Biden was expected later on Friday to respond and announce new actions to find other ways to offer relief on student loans.

But while the president mulled his options, the US Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, issued a statement calling the court’s ruling “disappointing and cruel”. He also criticized the right-leaning bench by equating them with Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” rightwing voting base, by characterizing the ruling as having come from the “Maga Republican-controlled supreme court”.

Schumer also called out the “hypocrisy” of the court, ruling Biden’s loan forgiveness plan unconstitutional while its leading conservatives, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, are embroiled in ethics scandals over accepting luxury gifts from conservative billionaires without declaring them.

“The hypocrisy is clear: as justices accept lavish, six-figure gifts, they don’t dare to help Americans saddled with student loan debt, instead siding with the powerful, big-monied interests,” added Schumer.

The Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren, who has long championed student loan forgiveness, said that the court “refuses to follow the plain language of the law on student loan cancellation”.

But she warned on Twitter: “This fight is not over. The president has more tools to cancel student debt – and he must use them.”

New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez emphasized that Biden still has the power to pursue student loan forgiveness.

“It is very important to note this Scotus [supreme court of the United States] ruling does NOT remove Biden’s ability to pursue student loan forgiveness,” said Ocasio-Cortez via Twitter.

“The Biden Admin can use the HEA (Higher Ed Act) – our position from the start – to continue loan forgiveness before payments resume. They should do so ASAP,” she added.

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) called the ruling a “full-frontal attack on young people’s futures”.

“Between yesterday’s affirmative action case and today’s decision on student debt, the court has decided that if you or your family has the ability and means, you can succeed, but if you’re a struggler or striver, you’re on your own,” said the AFT president, Randi Weingarten.

The voting rights organizer and former Democratic candidate for Georgia governor, Stacey Abrams, criticized the court for its latest decision as well as the Friday ruling in favor of a Colorado web designer who refuses to provide services for same-sex marriages because of her Christian beliefs, a ruling which critics say also opens the door to businesses discriminating on the basis of race, gender identity, faith or disability.

“This week, [Scotus] struck down the ability to ameliorate the currency of racism, legalized discrimination against the LGBTQ community, and blocked access to debt relief for millions. Real people. Real lives. Real consequences,” said Abrams in a tweet, while urging people to continue to vote.

Conservative lawmakers, meanwhile, celebrated Friday’s ruling, marking another victory for Republicans in the Senate who confirmed the three right-leaning justices nominated under Donald Trump.

The Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, called the loan forgiveness plan “socialism” and a “raw deal deal for hardworking taxpayers”.

McConnell said: “The president of the United States cannot hijack 20-year-old emergency powers to pad the pockets of his high-earning base and make suckers out of working families who choose not to take on student debt. The court’s decision today deals a heavy blow to Democrats’ distorted and outsized view of executive power.”