Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif) past comments came back to haunt her after the Supreme Court struck down President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness plan on Friday— handing conservatives a win.
In the 6-3 ruling that wiped away Biden's $400 billion student debt plan, Chief Justice John Roberts cited a speech that Pelosi gave at a press conference in July 2021 in his opinion.
"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.
During her speech, Pelosi mentioned a scenario where "your child just decided they want to – at this time, not want to go to college, but you're paying taxes to forgive somebody else's obligations."
The Democrat claimed voters would not be happy about Biden's plan to forgive student loans, making it appear to question whether such policy would be "fair."
The Supreme Court has been mulling the President's heavenly-funded plan for months as six Republican-led states sued the Biden Administration, claiming he overstepped his legal authority.
Biden announced his plan last year, estimating it would wipe the debt of at least 20 million Americans, providing relief to the remaining 20 million. The program's objective of eliminating up to $10,000 in federal student loan debt for borrowers making less than $125,000 and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients was struck down, dealing a major blow to Democrats.
Student loan payments were paused multiple times over the past several years. However, after a three-year hiatus, interest will start accruing on Sept. 1, with payments beginning to be due in October.