Joseph R. Biden v. State of Nebraska and Department of Education v. Myra Brown, Brief of 128 U.S. Representatives, Including 25 Members of the House Committee on Education & the Workforce as Amicus Curiae in Support of Respondents

Abstract

Petitioners’ assertion of power to forgive every federal student loan in the country, potentially even a decade after the COVID-19 pandemic ends, raises significant separation of powers concerns. The power of the purse is one of Congress’s most potent checks against the executive branch, yet Petitioners’ overly broad reading of the HEROES Act risks encroaching on that power, as well as Congress’s Article I legislative authority, by arrogating to the Secretary of Education the authority to forgive a trillion dollars in federal debt that otherwise would be owed to the Treasury. The Court should require clear statutory authority before adopting an interpretation that risks significant conflict between the legislative and executive branches.

Keywords: Student loans, Separation of Powers, Legislative Power, Executive Power, Heroes Act, Debt forgiveness, Judicial review, Checks and Balances, Administrative Law

JEL Classification: I22, I28, K23, H11, H52, H81