Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Biden v. Nebraska and United States Department of Education v. Brown, which will look at whether President Joe Biden has the authority to cancel $430 billion in federal student-loan debt. Spoiler alert: He doesn’t.
The president made what constitutes one of the largest expenditures in American history—and the law makes clear that there is no significant legal distinction between waiving payments owed to the government and affirmatively spending the treasury’s money.
The Constitution’s Appropriations Clause provides that "No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law."