Student loan borrowers rally as US supreme court hears debt relief cases

But in November, the Intercept reported Brown, a small business owner, benefited from another pandemic-era loan forgiveness scheme called the paycheck protection program, in which $47,996 of loan debt for her business was forgiven.

Biden invoked the 2003 Heroes Act in order to cancel student loan debt, which gives the US secretary of education, Miguel Cardona, authority to make changes to any provision of the law applicable to student aid programs during national emergencies, like the aftermath of 9/11, or in this case, the Covid-19 pandemic.

The main hope for Biden appears to be a slim possibility that the court would find that states and individuals challenging the scheme did not actually have the legal right to sue. One of the conservative justices, Amy Coney Barrett, appeared to some legal observers to be skeptical that the case had standing to be brought before the court.

Outside the court, protestors continued their demonstration as the hearing went on.

Leaders from organizations like the NAACP, labor unions representing educators and healthcare workers, and other debt relief advocacy organizations also showed up to the rally.

Like millions of borrowers, Hayes is not making payments on her federal loans right now. For Hayes, who was recently laid off from her job in tech sales, the thought of even more hefty student loan payments every month is distressing. She also said the political fight over debt relief was likely to put off people from trying to go to college if they felt they could not afford it.