I’ll Pass on the Student-Loan Relief

President Biden’s latest attempt to cancel student loans is targeted at people like me. I’m 27 and have $25,000 in student-loan debt. But when my employer sued the government on Aug. 4 to stop this bailout, I cheered. The president shouldn’t be allowed to shred the Constitution, even if I benefit.

The administration’s continued disregard of the Constitution is willful. After the Supreme Court struck down the president’s previous $430 billion forgiveness scheme in June, the White House sent out a press release expanding its new forgiveness plan, first announced last April. Because I work for a nonprofit think tank, I qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which cancels remaining debt for people who work 10 years at qualified nonprofits or in government. Under the latest expansion, I’d have 36 months of payments shaved off what I owe.

I don’t fault anyone for taking advantage of relief when it’s offered, but I didn’t take this job to avoid paying back loans. I have a passion for nonprofit work that furthers free-market ideals. The 10-year forgiveness plan is a nice perk, but it’s not something to which I’m entitled. And I’m certainly not entitled to have my payment timeline whittled down further. Someone has to pick up the tab, and it’s unfair to put the burden on taxpayers.

It’s also unconstitutional. When lawmakers created the 10-year forgiveness program in 2007, they didn’t give the president the power to rewrite the loan time frame at will. Mr. Biden could have done the work of convincing Congress to enact relief for borrowers. Instead, the Education Department announced forgiveness via press releases, without any official executive action. Press releases aren’t legislation, or even regulation.

The Mackinac Center and the Cato Institute are suing with the help of the New Civil Liberties Alliance. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan dismissed our case Tuesday, but we will likely appeal the decision. If the suit succeeds, I’ll have to spend more time and money paying off my debt. I’m OK with that. It’s what I signed up for when I took out my college loans. Why should my friends who made different choices—like living with their parents while attending a commuter school or working full-time—have to pay for my decisions? What about the millions of taxpayers who didn’t attend college?

The rising cost of college and the growing student-debt burden are serious problems. We need solutions at the federal and state levels to make college more affordable and debt less burdensome. Yet it’s no solution to swap the rule of law for the raw exercise of power, especially on behalf of favored constituencies. Mr. Biden’s disregard for the Constitution sets a dangerous precedent in treating Congress as a formality. If Mr. Biden’s actions stand, there’s no telling what future presidents will do.

Such principles as the separation of powers matter far more than a payoff. With such major questions on the line, this issue seems destined to end up back at the Supreme Court. Meantime, I’ll keep working at a free-market think tank, fighting for taxpayers without demanding that they bail me out in return.

Ms. Wetzel is director of public relations at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.