Appeals court REJECTS Biden admin's ask to revive student loan forgiveness plan

On Wednesday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against a motion filed by the Biden administration to stay a US District Court judge's ruling that their ill-fated multi-billion dollar student loan forgiveness plan was "unlawful."

The decision by the New Orleans-based federal appeals court's three-judge panel was made just one day before the December 1 deadline requested by the Biden administration in order to give them time to "seek relief from the Supreme Court," as they did following a similar ruling by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

"It is ordered that appellants' opposed motion for stay pending appeal is denied," Judges Elrod, Graves, and Ho wrote in their decision. 

"It is further ordered that this matter is expedited to the next available randomly designated regular oral argument panel. The Clerk is directed to issue a schedule for expedited briefing thereafter." 

The original motion to end the program was brought before Texas-based US District Judge Mark Pittman by the Job Creators Network Foundation on the grounds that the government violated federal procedure.

In his ruling, Pittman sided with the group, calling the program "one of the largest exercises of legislative power without congressional authority in the history of the United States."

"In this country, we are not ruled by an all-powerful executive with a pen and a phone," Pittman wrote in his decision. "Instead, we are ruled by a Constitution that provides for three distinct and independent branches of government ... The Court is not blind to the current political division in our country. But it is fundamental to the survival of our Republic that the separation of powers as outlined in our Constitution be preserved. And having interpreted the HEROES Act, the Court holds that it does not provide 'clear congressional authorization' for the Program proposed by the Secretary."

Many top Democrats have come out in support of Biden, however, Sen. Elizabeth Warren was fact-checked on Twitter over her claim that the president was legally able to institute such a program.

Shortly after that, a 2021 video of soon-to-be former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi explaining that Biden does not have that authority made the rounds on Twitter. 

Nevertheless, White House spokesman Abdullah Hasan claimed that the Biden administration was "confident in our legal authority to carry out this program," adding that the decision to take the fight to the Supreme Court was made so that "borrowers can get the clarity and relief they deserve quickly.