The White House is expected to face tough questioning from the conservative-leaning Supreme Court with President Joe Biden’s $400 billion student loan forgiveness plan gets questioned by justices this week.

The White House on Tuesday will argue in front of the Supreme Court that Education Secretary Miguel Cardona can implement the plan under the 9/11-era Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students, or HEROES, Act.

The high court will hold hearings on two cases: Biden vs. Nebraska and Department of Education vs. Brown.

The high court agreed to hear oral arguments in December after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans refused to end a ruling by U. S. District Judge Mark Pittman in Texas stating Biden’s unilateral effort to cancel student debt was illegal.

Biden’s plan is an offshoot of the Trump administration’s plan to pause student loan payments after declaring the coronavirus pandemic a national emergency in 2020.

The debt relief plan would grant as much as $10,000 in loan forgiveness for people making less than $125,000 annually and up to $20,000 for Pell grant recipients. Attacks on the plans, led by Republicans, have argued that only Congress has the authority over such efforts.

Earlier this month, 43 Senate Republicans joined together to file an amicus brief in the case charging that Biden’s executive order to forgive student debt was unconstitutional and violates the separation of powers by circumventing Congress.

The White House said last month that the plan saw 26 million apply for debt relief with 16 million approved before the federal courts pulled the plug on Biden’s plan, allowing the Supreme Court to weigh in.

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