A federal judge in the United States ruled this Thursday against the program for the cancellation of student debt promoted by the government of President Joe Biden, declaring it illegal.
In a ruling, Texas Northern District Judge Mark Pittman said the program, which seeks to cancel up to $20,000 in debt per person, is a "unconstitutional maneuver".
In the case, the legal representatives of the Biden Administration argued that the HEROES Act, approved by Congress in 2003, gave the executive the authority to implement the debt forgiveness plan.
The judge rejected this argument and assured in Thursday’s ruling that the Executive had no "clear legislative authorization" to carry out the program.
"In this country we are not governed by an all-powerful Executive (…) but by a Constitution that establishes three independent branches of government"wrote Judge Pittman, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump.
This court decision comes a week after the US Supreme Court rejected an attempt by a conservative organization to block the debt relief program.
Judge Amy Coney Barrett denied an emergency request by the California-based Pacific Legal Foundation for the high court to block the White House policy.
The program, for which some 26 million people have already applied, is temporarily suspended by order of another federal court following a complaint led by six states with Republican governments.
At the end of August, Biden announced that he will forgive part of the debt that millions of university students contracted with the federal government in order to pay for their studies, in a nod to the young vote before the legislative elections on November 8.
The president reported the cancellation of up to 20,000 dollars of debt per student, but this measure will only benefit those who earn less than 125,000 dollars a year or those who, being married, have an income of less than 250,000 dollars a year.