Gloria Weiss isurious that she hasn't reached her student loan forgiveness balance.
Weiss took out Parent PLUS loans for her son in 2010 and has been on a standard repayment plan with payments reaching over $900.
Weiss was looking forward to the loan forgiveness and the lower monthly payments that would come with it.
Over the past months, a number of conservative-backed lawsuits seeking to block the relief have gained traction, and in November, two federal courts ruled the relief cannot move forward.
After her husband lost his job, Weiss took on part-time work to make ends meet, and she had to dig into her retirement funds to pay her student loans.
I'm not safe. Weiss said we are barely making it. I don't want to put money into my retirement fund. I'm very stressed and anxious on this emotional roller coaster.
While student-debt relief isn't completely off the table, there still could be another way Biden can get loan forgiveness for millions of Americans.
The lawsuits claim that Biden overstepped his authority by using the HEROES Act of 2003 to grant one-time debt relief to students in the event of a national emergency. The authority clearly exists under that law, according to some legal experts. The root of many of the challenges to the loan forgiveness is the Higher Education Act of 1965, according to some.
Weiss thinks it would have been better for him to use the Higher Education Act. I would like him to do that today. I hope he uses that today. I would like him to do it quickly. The wait will lead to more lawsuits.
The use of the HEROES Act to provide one-time relief for student loan borrowers is within the realm of the law. Donald Trump and Biden have both used the same authority to pause student loan payments.
The debt relief falls under the authority of the Education Secretary, according to an affidavit written by George Miller.
The states challenging the debt-relief plan may not like it, but their contention that the loan forgiveness plan exceeds the administration's authority is completely without merit.
Many Republicans don't think that's the case.
The Secretary uses it here to place tens of millions of borrowers in a better position by canceling their loans en mass. The Secretary can't transform federal student loans into grants. This is the first time the Secretary has used the Act in this way.
A federal judge in Texas ruled that Biden's student loan forgiveness was illegal because the president declared a national emergency three years ago. It's not clear if COVID-19 is still a national emergency.
Anthony Fauci told NBC that the US is still in a Pandemic.
The Higher Education Act gives the authority to cancel student debt, according to some Democrats. The Act gives the Education Department the power to "enforce, pay, compromise, waive, or release any right, title, claim, liens, or demand" related to federal student debt.
In February 2021, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley led a group of Democratic colleagues in introducing a resolution detailing a plan for Biden to cancel student debt using the Higher Education Act.
"President Biden has the legal authority to cancel billions in student debt with the stroke of a pen and he must meet the moment by using that authority, which would not only set us on a path to an equitable recovery, but would also help reduce the racial-wealth gap."
The Higher Education Act is supported by legal experts. The Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School wrote a memo for Warren in September 2020. The Secretary has the authority to modify a loan to zero even if no regulations are in place.
Insider asked the Education Department if it is considering pursuing alternative routes to debt relief.
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