Rep. Ilhan Omar: Student Loan Forgiveness 'Will Prevail'

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep. Ilhan Omar, a longtime advocate of student loan forgiveness, said Wednesday she remains "confident" that President Joe Biden and his administration will prevail in their effort to cancel millions of dollars of college debt.

Omar's statement came after the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday held arguments in Biden v. Nebraska. The case, brought to the court by six states, challenges the legality of the Department of Education's student-debt relief plan.

"When I first ran for office in 2016, I made cancelling student debt a centerpiece of my platform," Omar said in a statement.

"When I got to Congress, I introduced the first bill to cancel student debt and began pushing the next President to cancel that debt—under his clear statutory authority. President Biden and his Education Department listened. They listened to the millions of young people—and parents—across this country who want to be able to start a business, start a family or start a fulfilling career but can’t because of the shackles of student debt."

Biden's student-debt relief plan faces tough odds at the Supreme Court. During Tuesday's hearing, the court's conservative majority appeared deeply skeptical that the Department of Education has the power to unilaterally cancel up to $20,000 in federal student loans for 26 million people.

However, according to Omar, "not only does the Secretary of Education have the clear authority to cancel and modify these loans, but these partisan rightwing lawsuits do not even have legal standing to bring these lawsuits to the Supreme Court."

Omar added that she "I remain confident we will prevail, and will continue to fight until every drop of student loan debt is cancelled to provide borrowers with the relief they need."