With just over three months until the next shutdown deadline, the two parties are nowhere near a bipartisan deal to fund the government by the start of the new fiscal year. So this case should have been open-and-shut. Instead, every borrower within the specified income cap automatically qualifies for debt cancellation, no matter their circumstances. 22-506 See 68 Fed. See Financial Oversight and Management Bd. In fact, that Civil War debt is almost twice what the federal government spent before 1860. In any event and more importantsuch a harm to citizens cannot provide an escape hatch out of MOHELA's legal and financial independence. 19 Letter from Congressional Budget Office to Members of Congress, p. 3 (Sept. 26, 2022) (CBO Letter). He meant to donate $150 to a charity. Allowing filibusters to be "virtual," with no all-night floor sessions needed, made it all the more attractive a standard tool in a senator's toolbox. But once again the majority treats that authority in isolation, and thus as insignificant. - Quora Answer (1 of 2): Yes. Today's opinion simply reflects this Court's familiar practice of providing multiple grounds to support its conclusions. Mr. Biden took office the next year and signed a $1.9 trillion stimulus plan soon after. Collectively, Americans hold $17.5 trillion in debt, some $2.9 trillion more than at the end of 2019. See supra, at 19. All of them were partial, offering relief to only certain kinds of debtors. Ante, at 12-18. 9 The average cost for the war was 12 million a year equivalent to 1.75 billion in 2018 terms 147 times inflation. The American nation has been in debt continually since its inception. Those would be among the questions to be answered. If the major questions doctrine were a substantive canon, then the common thread in these cases would be that we "exchange [d] the most natural reading of a statute for a bearable one more protective of a judicially specified value." That would be a severely difficult accounting conundrum for federal agencies and a potential political landmine for Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden, who both have a lot to lose in 2024. See ante, at 1315. BIDEN v. NEBRASKA If all the Act's triggers are met, the Secretary can waive or modify the usual provisions relating to student loans, and substitute new terms and conditions. Cite as: 600 U. S. The plan's harm to MOHELA is also a harm to Missouri. The Secretary and the dissent go on to argue that the power to "waive or modify" is greater than the sum of its Tr. It makes itself the decisionmaker on, of all things, federal student-loan policy. If so, expect the KGB to be the last man standing in Russia. KAGAN, J., dissenting | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. 1087(c). 69314-69316. The University had been created by the Arkansas legislature," was "governed by a Board of Trustees appointed by the Governor with consent of the Senate, and report[ed] all of its expenditures to the legislature. Id., at 370. The American Revolutionary War took a heavy toll on Great Britain. Firefighters helped deliver a baby 18 years ago. I respectfully dissent from that decision. 12-26. Senate spending leaders, meanwhile, say theyre committed to a more bipartisan and transparent funding season. But a vacuum is no home for a textualist. The fact that multiple grounds support a result is usually regarded as a strength, not a weakness. Post, at 15 (BARRETT, J., concurring). That makes eminent sense in light of our constitutional structure, which is itself part of the legal context framing any delegation. Other clues, though less obvious, can also demonstrate that the babysitter took a reasonable view of the parent's instruction. 1098bb(b)(2); see supra, at 16. Allen v. Wright, 468 U. S. 737, 750 (1984). But in light of the sweeping and unprecedented impact of the Secretary's loan forgiveness program, it would seem more accurate to describe the program as being in the "wheelhouse" of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations. Rather, I understand it to emphasize the importance of context when a court interprets a delegation to an administrative agency. Before that, the majority invalidated the CDC's eviction moratorium because the agency had asserted authority far outside its "particular domain." Which leads to an obvious question: Where's MOHELA? So top lawmakers are predicting that Congress will revert back to its worn-out habit: punting until the holiday season. Id., at 4950. (So the doctrine would function like the rule that Congress must speak clearly to abrogate state sovereign immunity.) Emboldened, the. Tr. A clerk who disregards context and stretches the words to their fullest will not have a job for long. Post, at 2 (opinion of KAGAN, J.). 1078-10, 1087j, 1087ee. So jobs and livelihoods are at risk, not to mention higher borrowing costs and taxes down the road. For most of the 20th century, Congress simply raised the debt limit to whatever was needed to accommodate the budgets already enacted. There are pivotal figures within the Congress who seem to be working toward just this outcome as a policy goal. And those provisions include several relating to student-loan cancellation more precisely, specifying conditions in which the Secretary can discharge loan principal. And maybe all of them are right. BIDEN v. NEBRASKA But Congress could trigger the 1 percent across-the-board cut if it funds the government under a temporary spending patch into the new year. Meet the tough as nails Texan trying to keep the GOP in line on spending. They also defined the terms of the Government's public service loan forgiveness program and provided for discharges when schools commit malfeasance. The question, the majority helpfully tells us, is "who has the authority to make such significant calls. Ibid. But again, that fact is irrelevant to the lawfulness of the program. Co., 956 S. W. 2d 249, 254 (Mo. KAGAN, J., dissenting rooting bystander. The Secretary's new modifications" of these provisions were not "moderate" or "minor." Having been "established and organized under federal law for the very purpose of pursuing federal governmental objectives, under the direction and control of federal governmental appointees," Amtrak could not disclaim that it was "part of the Government." BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, ET AL. Ante, at 25, n. 9. So, lawmakers say, thats the REAL deadline to pass new spending bills. 1 Ins. West Virginia, 597 U. S., at (slip op., at 28, 31) (quoting Gonzales As in the Court's recent decision in West Virginia v. EPA, given the "history and the breadth of the authority"" asserted by the Executive and the "economic and political significance' of that assertion," the Court has "reason to hesitate before concluding that Congress' meant to confer such authority." That is one path. The Secretary can also forgive the loans of borrowers who have died or been permanently and totally disabled," such that they cannot "engage in any substantial gainful activity." Safety-net spending continued at high levels for the next several years as the economy recovered sluggishly. That is different from a normative rule that discourages Congress from empowering agencies. But when it kicks in, the Secretary can take exceptional measures. (And because context can suffice, I disagree with JUSTICE KAGAN's critique that "[t]he doctrine forces Congress to delegate in highly specific terms." See, e.g., id., at 51 (for purposes of separation-of-powers analysis under the Constitution"); id., at 54 ("for purposes of the Constitution's separation of powers provisions"); id., at 55 ("for purposes of determining the constitutional issues presented in this case"). Thus, courts apply a presumption of mens rea to criminal statutes, Xiulu Ruan v. United States, 597 U. S. (2022) (slip op., at 5), and saw it, was not a harm to Arkansas sufficient for the State to sue in its own name. This is consistent with how we communicate conversationally. 1997). We have been here before. 11 Of course, 18th-century France differs from 21st-century America in countless ways. Ante, at 13. Unlike after World War I, the US never really . And that is why this latest round of confrontation over paying the nation's bills could lead, more than ever, to default. The Missouri Supreme Court said nothing about, and had no reason to address, whether an injury to that public corporation was a harm to the State. Republican presidents have done it 49 times. The issue presented in this case is whether the Secretary has authority under the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003 (HEROES Act) to depart from the existing provisions of the Education Act and establish a student loan forgiveness program that will cancel about $430 billion in debt principal and affect nearly all borrowers. As we observed in West Virginia, experience shows that major questions cases "have arisen from all corners of the administrative state, and administrative action resulting in the conferral of benefits is no exception to that rule. 904. This would "effec[t] a fundamental revision of the statute, changing it from [one sort of] scheme of regulation' into an entirely different kind, West Virginia, 597 U. S., at (slip op., at 24) (quoting MCI, 512 U. S., at 231) one in which the Secretary may unilaterally define every aspect of federal student financial aid, provided he determines that recipients have "suffered direct economic hardship as a direct result of a . And critically here, the plaintiff cannot rest its claim on a third party's rights and interests. 59314. But none of that is enough. By doing so, the court acceded to state legislatures regularized practice of intervening on behalf of debtors during times of economic hardship. BIDEN v. NEBRASKA (War bonds tend to pay lower interest than other government bonds, adding less to the debt.) 243. (2023) App. SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES Ibid. If the U.S. were actually to default, this might well no longer be true. Crucially, farm organizations repeatedly, mobilized their members to fight for debt relief. Although they only controlled one chamber of Congress, their ambition was to seize control of fiscal policy from President Barack Obama. Many of the landlords were Black, like Haile, or Asian American, and they said the eviction bans had saddled them with debt and foreclosure worries while their tenants, who have jobs, live rent-free. The Secretary emphasizes that, as a public corporation, MOHELA has a legal personality separate from the State. Cite as: 600 U. S. It amounts to nearly one-third of the Government's $1.7 trillion in annual discretionary spending. When COVID hit, two Secretaries serving two different, 2 That is why "it takes 60 votes in the Senate" has become a litany. at 19); Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA, 573 U. S. 302, 324 (2014); see also Alabama Assn. Cite as: 600 U. S. Ante, at 21. They did so despite the recognition that lenders could pass the costs on to future debtors in the form of more expensive credit, or even restrict access to credit altogether. But if so, there are political remedies accountability for all the actors, up to the President, who the public thinks have made mistakes. Opinion of the Court BIDEN v. NEBRASKA Because waiver allows the Secretary to eliminate legal obligations in their entirety, the argument runs, the combination of "waive or modify" allows him "to reduce them to any extent short of waiver"-even if the power to "modify" ordinarily does not stretch that far. Whitman v. American Trucking Assns., Inc., 531 U. S. 457, 468 (2001) (Congress does not hide elephants in mouseholes"). MOHELA is, by law and function, an instrumentality of Missouri: Labeled an "instrumentality" by the State, it was created by the State, is supervised by the State, and serves a public function. Crucially, treating the Constitution's structure as part of the context in which a delegation occurs is not the same as using a clear-statement rule to overenforce Article I's nondelegation principle (which, again, is the rationale behind the substantive-canon view of the major questions doctrine). 108-122, pp. MOHELA plausibly alleges that it will suffer that harm as a result of the Secretary's plan. People think that the President of the United States has the power for debt forgiveness. It is not enough for the plaintiff to assert a "generalized grievance[]" about government policy. That adds up to an awful lot of unpaid and unhappy people but that's not the only reason defaulting on the debt has historically been regarded as unthinkable. Rec. KAGAN, J., dissenting But as the dissent recognizes, a public corporation can count as part of the State for some but not "other purposes." Menorah, 584 S. W. 2d, at 78. In that same year, for example, the Senate would muster two-thirds for the 18th Amendment (Prohibition) and come within one vote of doing the same for women's suffrage. questions doctrine that way. 04/13/2018 12:04 AM EDT. House passes bill to avert shutdown and suspend debt limit though - CNN Alabama Assn. After a change in Presidential administrations and shortly before adoption of the challenged policy, however, the Office of General Counsel "formally rescinded its earlier legal memorandum and issued a replacement reaching the opposite conclusion. It has been in place, causing headaches and prompting evasive action, ever since. In this case, the Secretary responsible for carrying out the student-loan programs forgave student loans in a national emergency under the core provision of a recently enacted statute empowering him to provide student-loan relief in national emergencies. Today's decision thus moves the KAGAN, J., dissenting Those tax cuts were temporary, but in 2012, Mr. Obama struck a deal with congressional Republicans to make more than four-fifths of them permanent. ; App. It is the largest it has been, compared with the size of the U.S. economy, since World War II, and its projected to grow an average of about $1.3 trillion a year for the next decade. 2 And in any event, the majority's view of the statute would also make the pause unlawful, as later discussed. Id., at 226; see Scalia & Garner 167 (Context is a primary determinant of meaning"). The usual textualist enterprise involves "hear[ing] the words as they would sound in the mind of a skilled, objectively reasonable user of words." While Kentuckys court standoff was extraordinary, the legislative effort to protect over-indebted borrowers was common throughout the 19th century during times of economic hardship. See S. Res. Such benefits include deferment of any repayment until after graduation, loan qualification regardless of credit history, relatively low fixed interest rates, income-sensitive repayment plans, andfor undergraduate students with financial needgovernment payment of interest while the borrower is in school. 20 U. S. C. 1070(a). Under the Government's reading of the HEROES Act, the MOHELA is a public instrumentality of the State. The majority is left to argue from a couple of prior decisions and a single idea, the latter relating to the State's desire to aid Missouri college students." Missing payments in early December, even if measures were found to make them up later, would prompt a further downgrade of U.S. credibility. See ante, at 17-18 (looking askance at add[ing] new terms, adding back in, filling the empty space," "augment[ing], and draft[ing]_new language). (dissenting opinion) (slip op., at 1319, 2833). 529 U. S., at 159. 1098bb(b)(2). Federal revenue declined as a share of the economy after President George W. Bushs tax cuts. 134 Stat. KAGAN, J., dissenting Here's what the debt ceiling is and why Congress is arguing about it - NPR Id., at 398. As with any other modification issued under the Act, no new term or condition reported pursuant to 1098bb(b)(2) may distort the fundamental nature of the provision it alters.5 The Secretary and the dissent assert that MOHELA's injuries should not count as Missouri's because MOHELA, as a public corporation, has a legal personality separate from the State. Ante, at 12-18, 25. At times the majority tries to convey that additions" as a class are somehow suspect. But that provides yet more reason for the Court to adhere to its properly limited role. Allen Eng. Ante, at 23.) Did the Revolutionary War leave Congress in debt? - Quora The major questions doctrine situates text in context, which is how textualists, like all interpreters, approach the task at hand. I, 1, that it should be forced to think twice before delegating substantial discretion to agencies even if the delegation is well within Congress's power to make. And the Court applies heightened-specificity requirements, thwarting Congress's efforts to ensure adequate responses to unforeseen events. And because, as explained above, MOHELA was set up (as corporations typically are) to insulate its creator from such derivative harm, Missouri is incapable of making that showing. A debt limit deal is still not yet close at hand for House Republicans and the White House as lawmakers leave the nation's capital and the risk of a first-ever default grows. And that something was left deliberately vague because Congress intended "to grant substantial discretion to the Secretary to respond to unforeseen emergencies." Because the Secretary "does not have to leave gaping holes" when he waives provisions, the argument runs, it follows that any replacement terms the Secretary uses to fill those holes must be lawful. does not let the political system, with its mechanisms of accountability, operate as normal. 18; post, at 5 (KAGAN, J., dissenting). 19-25. Or said more technically, a "State does not have standing as parens patriae to bring an action against the Federal Government." Amtrak argued that it was not subject to the First Amendment because it was a corporation separate from the Federal Government. 7:17 7-Minute Listen Playlist Download Embed Transcript The Constitution limits the president's power to wage war but presidents have gotten around that and Congress has. In each case, we could have [p]ut on blinders and confined ourselves to the four corners of the statute, and we might have reached a different outcome. But the decisions do not stand for what the majority claims. But that is mistaken. (2023) Opinion of the Court . The majority mainly relies on Arkansas v. Texas, 346 U. S. 368 (1953), but that case shows only that not all public instrumentalities are the same. true or false? the American revolutionary war left Congress in debt The most recent episodes of controversy with the debt limit happened in 2021 and 2017. That means checks you might be expecting from the government would bounce, and the U.S. would be in default on its obligations for the first time in its history. BARRETT's views on properly contextual interpretation of delegation provisions. The majority's explanation of that idea oscillates a fair bit. See id., at 3-4. 22-3179 (CA8), p. 3 (Nov. 1, 2022). State legislatures were also responsible for the proliferation of homestead exemptions, which shielded a portion of debtors assets from collection even if they could not repay their debts. So the unprecedented nature of the Secretary's debt cancellation plan only reflects the pandemic's unparalleled scope."
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