In a landmark decision, the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals delivered a resounding rebuke to former President Joe Biden's $475 billion student debt cancellation scheme, ruling that the plan was an unconstitutional overreach of executive authority. The court's decision marks a significant victory for fiscal responsibility and the rule of law, but it also exposes the staggering scale of government waste and moral hazard that has become all too common in Washington.

For years, conservatives have warned against the dangers of unchecked government spending and the erosion of personal responsibility. This case is a stark reminder of why those warnings matter.

SAVE plan: A $475 billion boondoggle

The Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan, spearheaded by Biden's Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, was marketed as a lifeline for struggling student borrowers. In reality, it was a thinly veiled attempt to transfer the financial burden of higher education from individuals who willingly took out loans to hardworking taxpayers who made different life choices.

Judge L. Steven Grasz, writing for the court, minced no words in his 25-page opinion. He found that Secretary Cardona had "gone well beyond" his constitutional authority, noting that Congress had never authorized such sweeping loan forgiveness. "Rather than implying by omission or other ambiguities, Congress has spoken clearly when creating a repayment plan with loan forgiveness or otherwise authorizing it — explicitly stating the Secretary should cancel, discharge, repay, or assume the remaining unpaid balance," Grasz wrote.

The Penn Wharton Budget Model estimated that the SAVE plan would cost taxpayers $475 billion over the next decade. To put that figure into perspective, it's more than the entire GDP of some small nations. This is not just a policy disagreement; it's a moral outrage.

History of overreach

This isn't the first time the Biden administration has tried to push the boundaries of executive power. In June 2023, the Supreme Court struck down a separate $430 billion student debt forgiveness plan, with Chief Justice John Roberts writing that the Education Secretary "has never previously claimed powers of this magnitude."

Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.), now chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, aptly summarized the issue last year: "He isn't 'forgiving' debt. He is taking the debt from those who willingly took it out to go to college and transferring it onto taxpayers who decided not to go to college or already paid off their loans."