Earlier today, Ed wrote about some last minute side drama whipped up about this case. Oral arguments have now been completed and various news outlets are reporting the conservative Justices seemed pretty skeptical of President Biden’s ability to offer mass student loan forgiveness. In general Washington Post reports the conservatives were arguing fairness and the liberals were arguing standing. First, on the fairness issue:

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. presented a hypothetical scenario involving two high school graduates — one who takes out a loan to attend college and the other who gets a loan to start a lawn care business.

Why is it fair, he asked Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar, to require the owner of the lawn service to essentially subsidize through tax payments loan forgiveness for the college graduate, who studies show will earn more money?

“Nobody is telling the person who was trying to set up the lawn service business that he doesn’t have to pay his loan,” Roberts said.

“Why is it fair?” added Justice Samuel Alito. “Why was it fair to the people who didn’t get arguably comparable relief?”

Justice Gorsuch also brought up the fairness of debt forgiveness.

Some conservative justices, including Neil Gorsuch, also raised the issue of the fairness of canceling student loan debt for some borrowers and not others, including people who have paid their loans and others who were not eligible.

“Half a trillion dollars is being diverted to one group of favored persons over others,” Gorsuch said.

Here’s an audio clip of the discussion:

Meanwhile, on the standing issue:

Nebraska Solicitor General James Campbell told the court that the state of Missouri has a direct interest through the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority, a quasi-state entity at the center of the case.

In response, Justice Elena Kagan said: “Usually we don’t allow one person to step into another’s shoes and say, ‘I think that that person suffered a harm,’ even if the harm is very great.”

Many experts believe the Biden administration’s best chance is to convince the court that neither the Republican-led states nor two individuals in a separate case from Texas have legal standing to challenge the initiative.

Outside the court there were a slew of progressive agitators. Bernie’s solution, make everything free.

While the Supreme Court hears a case trying to kill student debt today, Bernie Sanders joins the rally outside to say that we should make public colleges free, and that you shouldn't "have to face financial ruin because you want a damn education!" pic.twitter.com/UqCtn5Akwc

— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) February 28, 2023

Rep. Jackson Lee and Rep. Tlaib:

Rep. @RashidaTlaib to student-loan forgiveness rally: "Movement people don’t go nowhere, right? They can change hands, this unhinged Supreme Court can make all these decisions, but we’re not going anywhere & we’re going to continue to speak that truth." pic.twitter.com/qave2drojG

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) February 28, 2023

Rep. Maxwell Frost wants to take the “shackles” off people by having other people pay their debts.

‘We need this court to make the right decision’ — FL Rep. Maxwell Frost joined a rally advocating for the cancellation of student loan debt as the Supreme Court takes on two cases challenging Pres. Biden’s student loan debt forgiveness program pic.twitter.com/z0HfR1OjuI

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) February 28, 2023

Sen. Warren is fired up:

“It is time for the Supreme Court to stop playing politics and just apply the law and let us cancel this debt.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren rallies outside Supreme Court as justices hear arguments against Pres. Biden's student loan forgiveness program. https://t.co/4Y7lK4xZA7 pic.twitter.com/ueBT7SzINQ

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) February 28, 2023

But the bottom line is that there’s a good chance this is going down.

In the questions the conservative justices posed, they signaled that they see the GOP states’ case as presenting the court with another chance to draw the lines around when the executive branch can and cannot act without Congress.

Several of the exchanges concerned the application of the so-called “Major Questions Doctrine,” a legal theory embraced by the court’s Republican appointees that says Congress can be expected to speak with specificity when it gives an agency power to do something of great political or economic significance.

The states are arguing that under the doctrine, the Biden student debt program should be blocked.

Chief Justice John Roberts raised the doctrine as he told US Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar that the case “presents extraordinarily serious important issues about the role of Congress.”

“We take very seriously the idea of separation of powers and that power should be divided to prevent its abuse,” Roberts said.

My own take is that I’ve already helped pay off my wife’s college loans and I’ve paid for one daughter to go to college and a second one who is now in college. I don’t want to pay anyone else’s student debt, not even indirectly. If you took out the loan, it’s your debt not everyone’s debt.

Frankly the same people arguing the government should pay people’s student debts would probably argue the same for any kind of debt. If we decided to make state colleges free, we’ll do that in the future, not retroactively for people who chose to take out debt.