Kamala Harris pledged to keep "fighting" for student loan forgiveness after the Supreme Court shut down a second attempt by the Biden-Harris administration to erase billions in debt.
The ruling is a blow to Harris' presidential campaign, which has a support base of young liberal voters who are more likely to have college debt.
President Biden pledged to wipe student debt in 2020, but his efforts to do so have stretched his legal authority, leading to a series of court defeats.
The Supreme Court shut down Biden's first, sweeping attempt to wipe $400 billion in loans last summer.
That led Biden to announce a new program, SAVE, that either lowers or eliminates monthly payments entirely based on income level.
Republican states challenged SAVE and won injunctions from federal courts in Kansas and Missouri. Then, two different appeals courts ruled differently: the 10th Circuit Appeals Court allowed a portion of SAVE to continue, while the 8th Circuit blocked SAVE in its entirety.
In the latest twist in the legal saga, the Supreme Court shot down a request from Biden's Justice Department to lift the 8th Circuit's injunction.
“The [Supreme] Court expects that the Court of Appeals will render its decision with appropriate dispatch,” the court wrote in a brief order.
The SAVE Plan lowers monthly payments from 10% of discretionary income to 5%. Borrowers with $12,000 or less in debt could have their loans forgiven after 10 years of payments. Those making less than 225% of the federal poverty line, or $32,800 a year for a single person, also don't have to pay.
Republicans have blasted the Biden-Harris student loan efforts as a wealth transfer from working-class and non-college voters to college graduates who lean left.
In a post on X, Harris bragged about the administration's progress in wiping roughly $170 billion in debt.
"@POTUS and I have canceled nearly $170 billion in student debt for almost 5 million Americans," Harris wrote on X. "We are also fighting to defend our SAVE Plan, which has lowered payments for millions of Americans. We won't stop fighting to build an economy that works for every American."
The Harris campaign is on defense over the economy and cost of living, with voters continuing to struggle with the inflation of the Biden era. This student loan ruling won't make the Harris campaign's job any easier.
