美国国家公共电台 NPR--Texas judge strikes down Biden administration's student loan-forgiveness plan

Texas judge strikes down Biden administration's student loan-forgiveness plan

Transcript¹

A judge in Texas has vacated President Biden's student loan relief plan, calling it unconstitutional. The ruling will almost certainly be appealed by the U.S. Justice Department.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

President Biden's plan to cancel some or all federal debt for students - for 40 million borrowers, actually - this plan ran into a wall late yesterday. Two disgruntled borrowers filed a lawsuit² challenging Biden's plan. And a U.S. district court judge in Texas has now declared that the debt relief program is unlawful and vacated it. For more on what happens next, we've got NPR's Cory Turner with us. Hey, Cory.

CORY TURNER, BYLINE³: Hey, Rachel.

MARTIN: So this is sort of a big deal. Before we get to the implications, can you walk us through the basics of this case?

TURNER: Yeah. So as you said, it was brought by two borrowers making a pretty unusual argument. One won't qualify for any relief. The other does qualify for $10,000 but is actually frustrated⁴ because he believes he should qualify for more. The remedy they're seeking, though, is not cancellation⁵ of their debts, but to stop the government from cancelling anyone's debts and to essentially⁶ start all over again and rewrite the rules of the program. So I spoke⁷ last night with Persis Yu. She's managing counsel of the Student Borrower Protection Center, which has advocated for debt relief. And here's how she describes this case.

PERSIS YU: I like to think about this lawsuit as, like, the toddler problem. If I can't have it, you can't have it either. And that's not how the law works. And it's not how the courts should apply the law.

TURNER: But here's the thing, Rachel. This case is not just about these two borrowers. It is also a big-picture fight over capital-G government and the separation of powers. The conservative legal group behind this suit argues President Biden cannot just wipe away $400 billion in student loan debt. Only Congress can do that. And for him to do it without Congress, they argue, is unlawful, though, of course, the Biden administration says lawmakers did give it the authority to erase⁸ student debt when they passed a law called the Heroes Act.

MARTIN: OK, so what did this judge say?

TURNER: So Judge Mark T. Pittman, who was appointed by former President Trump⁹, doesn't buy the administration's reading of the Heroes Act. Instead, he wrote that Biden's debt relief program is a complete usurpation¹⁰ of congressional authority by the executive branch. The judge even quoted James Madison in the Federalist Papers, writing, "The accumulation of all powers - legislative¹¹, executive and judiciary - in the same hands may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny." What's most interesting about Pittman's ruling, though, is that he condensed a lot of legal process here, including whether to issue, you know, some sort of temporary block on debt relief, and instead he went big and vacated the entire program.

MARTIN: So what does that mean for all the people, all the borrowers who've already started their online documents to get their debt relieved?

TURNER: Well, at the very least, it means they're still waiting. This is a big setback¹², Rachel, for those borrowers and for the Biden administration's program. Vacating it doesn't just pause it or block it. It would essentially unwind it. In response, though, we know Biden administration has already appealed the decision. We got confirmation¹³ of that last night from the White House. Then again, I should also make clear, like, an appeal is going to go to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has a reputation for being the most conservative appeals - federal appeals court in the country. From there, another appeal would land this case at the Supreme¹⁴ Court. It's hard to know what the timeline is here for clarity - could be weeks. Keep in mind, though, this is important. Lots of borrowers know this, don't need to be reminded. Student loan payments are also set to restart in a matter of weeks, come January.

MARTIN: I still got to pay mine. NPR's Cory Turner, thank you.

TURNER: You're welcome.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 cancellation   

n.删除，取消

参考例句：

• Heavy seas can cause cancellation of ferry services.海上风浪太大，可能须要取消渡轮服务。
• Her cancellation of her trip to Paris upset our plan.她取消了巴黎之行打乱了我们的计划。

6 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 erase   

v.擦掉；消除某事物的痕迹

参考例句：

• He tried to erase the idea from his mind.他试图从头脑中抹掉这个想法。
• Please erase my name from the list.请把我的名字从名单上擦去。

9 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

10 usurpation   

n.篡位；霸占

参考例句：

• The struggle during this transitional stage is to oppose Chiang Kai-shek's usurpation of the fruits of victory in the War of Resistance.过渡阶段的斗争，就是反对蒋介石篡夺抗战胜利果实的斗争。
• This is an unjustified usurpation of my authority.你是在非法纂夺我的权力。

11 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

12 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

13 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

14 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。