Supreme Court cites ex House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in decision to strike down Biden student loan plan

The Supreme Court of the United States cited former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the decision on Friday to strike down President Biden's student loan forgiveness plan. 

"As then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi explained: 'People think that the President of the United States has the power for debt forgiveness. He does not. He can postpone. He can delay. But he does not have that power. That has to be an act of Congress,'" Roberts wrote.

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.

The ruling was a major rebuke of President Joe Biden's political efforts to court young voters with large college debts, and sets a fresh battle ahead of the next presidential election. 

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.

Higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz stated that about 14 million people would have had their student debt eliminated entirely if the ruling had gone the opposite way, CNBC News reports.