Supreme court to hear challenges to Biden’s student debt relief plan – live

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One of the two cases the supreme court will hear today challenging Joe Biden’s student debt relief program was brought by six-Republican led states.

Iowa is among that group, and its attorney general Brenna Bird appeared on Fox News this morning to discuss their objections to the case – and (unsurprisingly, if you’ve heard Republican elected officials talk recently) dissed gender studies degrees.

Here’s a clip:

Supporters of the Biden administration’s student debt relief plan are rallying outside the supreme court ahead of the 10am start of the hearing into the challenges against it:

Stakes at supreme court higher than just student debt program

If the supreme court finds Joe Biden did not have the legal authority to relieve as much as $20,000 in student debt for tens of millions of American borrowers, the effects could stretch beyond just the president’s signature program.

As Bloomberg Law reports, the court could make use of the “major questions doctrine” to strike down the program, a relatively recent legal theory that conservative justices deployed in a ruling limiting the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority last year. If the six-justice bloc, which was responsible for a number of the court’s most contentious rulings last year including the end of Roe v Wade, opts to expand the doctrine, it could dramatically complicate the ability of government agencies to regulate.

“The practical effect would be that federal agencies could only solve problems that existed when the relevant statute was enacted, and that any new problems must wait for Congress to act (which generally would mean those issues would languish, and other solutions, such as actions from state governments as well as private actors, might have to fill the gaps),” according to Bloomberg Law.

That said, Politico reports that the White House believes it has an ace up its sleeve. “We’re confident we’re going to win because the other side doesn’t have standing,” a person familiar with the Biden administration’s thinking said. If the court finds the plaintiffs don’t have standing to sue, that could be enough to allow the program to go into effect.

Supreme court to hear conservative challenges to Biden's student debt relief plan

Good morning, US politics blog readers. Joe Biden’s plan to provide some student debt relief to tens of millions of Americans will be before the supreme court today, which will hear two cases brought by conservatives challenging the proposal. There’s no telling how the court – which is composed of six conservative justices and three liberals – will rule on the petitions, which argue the president does not have the legal authority to provide relief. But a ruling striking the program down or limiting it would be a major loss for the White House. We may get a sense of which way the justices are leaning in today’s oral arguments.

Here’s what else is going on today:

• Republicans in the House of Representatives will vote on a bill that would bar retirement funds from sustainable investing.

• The House select committee on competition with the Chinese Communist party will hold its first hearing during the primetime TV hour, at 7 pm eastern time.

• Biden is heading to Virginia Beach, Virginia, where he’ll speak about his efforts to lower healthcare costs.