A federal judge on Thursday struck down President Biden’s student loan forgiveness program, declaring it illegal.

Trump-appointed District Judge Mark Pittman ruled the program, which would have provided borrowers with up to $20,000 in student loan relief, was “an unconstitutional exercise of congressional legislative power.”

The Biden administration has argued that it has the authority to cancel student loans under the Higher Education Student Aid Opportunity Act of 2003. However, Pittman dismissed that argument Thursday, finding no “clear congressional authorization” for the program.

The decision follows a lawsuit filed in October by the Job Creators Network Foundation, a conservative advocacy group, on behalf of a borrower who is not eligible for the relief program and another who is not. not eligible for the full $20,000.

The group argued that the Department for Education had not authorized public notice and comment on the program and that the agency generally did not have the power to cancel student loans under the law. HEROES.

As an agency, the Department of Education technically receives its authority to make rules from Congress. Because the issue of student loan forgiveness is of great “economic and political significance,” Pittman said the agency was required to show it had clear congressional authorization for the program, which he ruled no.

“It is not the role of this Court to determine whether the program constitutes good public policy,” Pittman said in the ruling. “Nevertheless, no one can plausibly deny that this is either one of the largest delegations of legislative power to the executive or one of the largest exercises of legislative power without congressional authority in the history of the United States.”

Thursday’s decision represents the biggest victory yet for conservative opponents of the Biden administration’s debt relief package.

A federal appeals court temporarily suspended the program in late October following a challenge from six GOP-led states. However, the appeals court’s decision only stalled the program while the states’ appeal unfolded and did not nullify the program outright.

Biden’s debt relief package would forgive up to $10,000 in student loans for borrowers earning less than $125,000 and up to $20,000 for those who received Pell Grants.

Updated at 8:37 p.m.