Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez accuses Justice Alito of 'corruption' over student loan ruling

New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez accused Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito of corruption, following the court's decision on student debt forgiveness. 

"Justice Alito accepted tens of thousands of dollars in lavish vacation gifts from a billionaire who lobbied to cancel the student loan forgiveness," Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter on Friday. "After the gifts, Alito voted to overturn. This SCOTUS’ corruption undercuts its own legitimacy by putting its rulings up for sale."

Alito has recently faced scrutiny from progressives over a flight he took that was paid for by a major Republican donor.

The Supreme Court Justice denied he did anything wrong, according to The Hill. He wrote an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal earlier this month in which he defended his actions and the fact that he didn't report it: 

"Until a few months ago, the instructions for completing a Financial Disclosure Report told judges that '[p]ersonal hospitality need not be reported. . . .'" Justice Alito wrote. "This understanding of the requirement to report gifts reflected the expert judgment of the body that the Ethics in Government Act entrusts with the responsibility to administer compliance with the Act. . . . When I joined the Court and until the recent amendment of the filing instructions, justices commonly interpreted this discussion of 'hospitality' to mean that accommodations and transportation for social events were not reportable gifts. The flight to Alaska was the only occasion when I have accepted transportation for a purely social event, and in doing so I followed what I understood to be standard practice."

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the Biden administration does not have the authority to unilaterally cancel hundreds of billions in student loan debt.

Student loan forgiveness was a political issue that Biden ran on during his 2020 election campaign. The Supreme Court ruled that the White House does not have the authority to wipe out hundreds of billions of dollars in student loan debt unilaterally and without any congressional involvement.

The Biden Education Department had "no authorization for the Secretary’s plan when examined using the ordinary tools of statutory interpretation—let alone 'clear congressional authorization' for such a program," the majority opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts declared.