紐時賞析／拜登的學貸豁免案遭共和黨擋下 總統職權恐重新界定

Student Loan Case Could Reshape Presidential Politics

學貸豁免案恐將重塑美國總統制

One of President Joe Biden’s most ambitious proposals — a $400 billion program to forgive student loan debt for 40 million Americans — could become the latest victim of a legal tug of war with the Supreme Court over the powers of the presidency.

總額4000億美元、為4000萬美國學生免除學貸的計畫，是美國總統拜登最具雄心的政策之一，但這項計畫恐成為最高法院就總統職權法律拉鋸戰的最新犧牲品。

Conservative justices on the court signaled Tuesday that they are deeply skeptical that Biden has the power to wipe out such a vast amount of student debt. In oral arguments, several justices said they believed a program that costs so much and affects so many people should have been more explicitly approved by Congress.

幾名保守派大法官周二在庭上表示，他們對拜登是否有權將如此巨額的學貸一筆勾銷深感懷疑。在口頭辯論中，數名大法官指出，他們認為一個花費這麼大、影響這麼多人的計畫，應該得到國會更明確的批准。

It was not the first time the court has suggested that Biden overstepped his authority, but the case has the potential to curtail Biden’s ambitions just as newly empowered Republicans in the House have vowed to block his every move in Congress.

這並非最高法院首次暗示拜登越權，但此案可能遏制拜登的雄心，而剛在眾院掌權的共和黨人誓言在國會擋下拜登的任何行動。

During Biden’s first two years in office, the court has blocked him from enacting key parts of his agenda, including sweeping measures to address climate change, vaccine requirements at large companies and a ban on evictions during the pandemic.

拜登執政前兩年間，最高法院已阻止他啟動其政策議程的核心項目，包括因應氣候變遷的大規模措施、大型企業疫苗強制令，以及疫情期間的移民驅逐禁令等。

In each case, the court’s conservative majority said the president needed clear congressional approval to pursue such major policies.

在上述案件中，最高法院的保守派多數人都說，總統需要國會明確批准，才能執行如此重大政策。

The court’s decision on whether to block the student loan program as well, which is likely to come by summer, will have a vast impact on millions of borrowers who have struggled to pay back their loans.

最高法院是否擋下學貸豁免案的決定可望於今夏出爐，將對數百萬勉力償還學貸的借款人產生重大影響。

And it will set additional legal precedents, potentially defining new limits for presidential power.

另外，此案也將成為判例，可能為總統職權界定新限制。

The ruling could have other broad political implications, forcing Biden and his allies to reshape their efforts to court one of the Democratic Party’s most important constituencies ahead of the 2024 campaign: young people.

判決也可能會造成更加廣泛的政治影響，並迫使拜登與他的盟友在2024年大選之前調整行動，以爭取民主黨最重要的選民之一：年輕人。

When Biden announced his plan to forgive federal student loans in August, he and his political strategists envisioned being able to triumphantly declare that he had made good on his promise to borrowers that they could now “crawl out from under that mountain of debt.”

當拜登去年8月宣布免除聯邦學貸的計畫時，他與他的政治策士原本預料能夠勝利的宣稱，他已兌現對借款人的承諾，他們終於能夠從「堆積如山的債務底下爬出來」。

Instead, the president may have to face the voters with a very different message: that despite his best efforts, student debt relief was thwarted by Republicans who blocked his policy at the Supreme Court.

然而，拜登如今可能必須以截然不同的訊息來面對選民：儘管他已盡力，學貸豁免案仍受挫，共和黨人在最高法院擋下了他的政策。

文／Michael D. Shear、Adam Liptak　譯／陳曉慈

說文解字看新聞

【陳曉慈】

作者認為美國國會和最高法院的共和黨人block（干擾、阻攔）總統拜登的政策。川普時期，總統行政權無限上綱，不甩國會，有最高法院撐腰。換成拜登，不僅國會監督，保守派占多數的最高法院也掣肘，增加拜登施政難度。

Block在籃球賽指的是「阻攻」（台灣稱「火鍋」、對岸則稱「蓋帽」），也有比喻的用法：She accused him of blocking her promotion.「卡」疫苗進口就是用這個字，手機來電或社群媒體帳戶的「封鎖」也是；其他還有水管或血管的「堵塞」。

學貸（loan）或者各式債務（debt）的免還，動詞用forgive，代表一筆勾銷（cancel）；relief還是要還，只是不用全額。美國憲法授予了總統無條件的赦免（pardon）權，但是想要免除學貸，最高法院說，行政部門需要國會提供更加明確（more explicitly）的授權。