Biden v. Nebraska

Decided June 30, 2023. John Glover Roberts Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 22-506 · 600 U.S. 477 (2023) · Cited 63 times

Holding

The Secretary of Education does not have authority under the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003 (HEROES Act) to establish a student loan forgiveness program that will cancel roughly $430 billion in debt principal and affect nearly all borrowers.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court. Read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 6–3.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. The lineup is the syllabus’s disposition of who wrote and joined each opinion. Source: the opinion’s syllabus (supremecourt.gov).

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• MCI Telecommunications Corp. v. American Telephone & Telegraph Co. · 512 U.S. 218 (1994)
• Food & Drug Administration v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. · 529 U.S. 120 (2000)
• Department of Transportation v. Association of American Railroads · 575 U.S. 43 (2015)
• Lebron v. National Railroad Passenger Corporation · 513 U.S. 374 (1995)
• King v. Burwell · 576 U.S. 473 (2015)
• Gonzales v. Oregon · 546 U.S. 243 (2006)
• Warth v. Seldin · 422 U.S. 490 (1975)
• Whitman v. American Trucking Assns., Inc. · 531 U.S. 457 (2001)
• Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency · 549 U.S. 497 (2007)
• Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife · 504 U.S. 555 (1992)
• Allen v. Wright · 468 U.S. 737 (1984)
• United States v. Santos · 553 U.S. 507 (2008)
• First National City Bank v. Banco Para El Comercio Exterior De Cuba · 462 U.S. 611 (1983)
• Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Inc. · 454 U.S. 464 (1982)
• Skidmore v. Swift & Co. · 323 U.S. 134 (1944)
• Simon v. Eastern Kentucky Welfare Rights Organization · 426 U.S. 26 (1976)
• Irwin v. Department of Veterans Affairs · 498 U.S. 89 (1990)
• Clapper v. Amnesty International USA · 568 U.S. 398 (2013)
• Descamps v. United States · 570 U.S. 254 (2013)
• Lexmark Int'l, Inc. v. Static Control Components, Inc. · 572 U.S. 118 (2014)
• Massachusetts v. Mellon · 262 U.S. 447 (1923)
• United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
• Office of Personnel Management v. Richmond · 496 U.S. 414 (1990)
• Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, Inc. · 547 U.S. 47 (2006)
• United States v. Gonzales · 520 U.S. 1 (1997)
• Kucana v. Holder · 558 U.S. 233 (2010)
• Alfred L. Snapp & Son, Inc. v. Puerto Rico Ex Rel. Barez · 458 U.S. 592 (1982)
• Sykes v. United States · 564 U.S. 1 (2011)
• United States v. Kirby · 74 U.S. 482 (1869)
• Industrial Union Dept., AFL-CIO v. American Petroleum Institute · 448 U.S. 607 (1980)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Department of Education v. Brown · 600 U.S. 551 (2023)
• FCC v. Consumers' Research · 606 U.S. 656 (2025)

Official text

Read the official opinion (PDF, supremecourt.gov)

Explore from here

John Glover Roberts Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2023). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-08-15. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).