The conservative majority on the Supreme Court is said to be deeply skeptical and unlikely to go for the Biden administration’s expansive student debt forgiveness program, but the Tuesday performance of lead government lawyer Elizabeth Prelogar might just have been enough to weaken their resolve, experts told CNBC. “I do think she could have influenced or even changed the thinking of two justices, maybe more,” University of Illinois Chicago law professor Steven Schwinn said. Watching the solicitor general and her opponents at work was like “the difference between a star quarterback and two tiddlywinks players,” higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz said. Prelogar’s “preparation, poise, and power were impressive,” Kantrowitz added, observing that the administration “now seems more likely than not” to win both cases. But other experts remain unconvinced. Though Fordham law professor Jed Shugerman praised Prelogar’s “terrific” turn in oral arguments, writing in a tweet thread that “on standing, she may have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat,” he predicted that the court would still rule 5-4 in favor of the plaintiffs in the case brought by six conservative states.
