# Biden v. Nebraska **Biden v. Nebraska** (decided June 30, 2023) struck down [[Joe Biden]]'s plan to cancel up to $20,000 in federal [[Student Loans]] per borrower. The opinion put the cost at roughly $430 billion, citing the Congressional Budget Office. The vote was 6–3. Chief Justice [[John Roberts]] wrote for the majority that the HEROES Act of 2003, which lets the Education Secretary "waive or modify" loan rules in a national emergency, did not authorize cancellation on that scale. Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote a concurrence on the [[Major Questions Doctrine]]. Justice Elena Kagan dissented, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson. ## Why it matters The decision ended mass cancellation by executive action and pushed relief into narrower existing programs. Those programs forgave about $188.8 billion for 5.3 million borrowers by January 2025. It is also a leading example of the Court using the major-questions approach to strike down a major executive-branch program. ## See also - [[Student Loans]] · [[Major Questions Doctrine]] · [[Department of Education]] · [[John Roberts]]