Sunday shows preview: Supreme Court halts affirmative action, student loan relief as 2024 race gets underway

The Supreme Court’s decisions striking down affirmative action programs in college admissions and President Biden’s student debt relief program will likely dominate this week’s Sunday news shows. 

The court concluded its term this week with major landmark decisions before going on summer recess that will likely have ripple effects for students and for the 2024 presidential election. Biden called for alternative paths to accomplishing the goals of affirmative action and his forgiveness program following the rulings, while Republicans hailed the decisions as abiding by the Constitution. 

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion in the affirmative action cases, one concerning the admissions program at Harvard University and one concerning the program at the University of North Carolina, that the schools using race as a factor in admissions decisions violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14^th Amendment to the Constitution. 

He wrote for the majority in the loan forgiveness case that the Biden administration had not received clear congressional authorization to issue the widespread forgiveness of thousands of dollars for many borrowers. 

Both rulings had the court’s six conservatives in the majority and the liberals in the minority. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson recused herself in the Harvard case, making the ruling in that one 6-2 as opposed to the 6-3 ruling in the UNC case and on the forgiveness program.

The GOP presidential candidates were quick to praise the court for its decisions. 

Former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley was one of the first GOP candidates to commend the ruling on affirmative action, arguing that it would better give students a chance at achieving the “American Dream.” 

“The world admires America because we value freedom and opportunity. The Supreme Court reaffirmed those values today. Picking winners and losers based on race is fundamentally wrong,” she said. 

Haley, a daughter of Indian immigrants who will appear on “Fox News Sunday,” said the court’s ruling will help every student no matter their background. 

Former Vice President Mike Pence touted the role he played in the Trump administration that appointed three justices — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — who were key votes in both rulings. 

“I am honored to have played a role in appointing three of the Justices that ensured today’s welcomed decision, and as President I will continue to appoint judges who will strictly apply the law,” he said after both rulings. 

Pence called affirmative action an “egregious violation of civil and constitutional rights” that “served to perpetuate racism” and argued the forgiveness program “subsidizes the education of elites on the backs of hardworking Americans.” 

Pence will appear on ABC’s “This Week” and CBS’ “Face the Nation.” 

But not all GOP presidential candidates have come out strongly in favor of the court’s rulings. 

Former Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas), who was a moderate member of the Republican Conference during his time in the House, did not directly address whether he supported or opposed the court’s ruling on affirmative action and instead called attention to Black and brown students not receiving a strong enough education. 

“With or without affirmative action, we are failing to prepare too many of our black and brown students for higher education. That’s the problem. We have income inequality because we have education inequality,” he tweeted. 

Hurd will appear on CNN’s “State of the Union.” He said when he launched his campaign that one of the main issues that he wants to focus on are falling math, science and reading scores among students. 

The court’s decisions will have an effect on students applying to and attending colleges and universities across the country, and many institutions released statements following the decisions saying that they would abide by the court’s ruling but still work to support diversity at the school. 

Michael Drake, the president of the University of California (UC), issued statements to the UC system community after both rulings. He said the institution was “disappointed” with the court’s ruling on affirmative action, but student diversity is still a “top priority.” 

The consideration of race in college admissions has been banned in California since 1996, and UC had already adjusted policies to follow the law and “aggressively” pursue ways to increase diversity among applications, admissions, enrollment and retention, Drake said. 

He also declared college affordability to be among the university’s top priorities following the forgiveness program ruling and encouraged students to consider all loan repayment options that the Department of Education makes available. 

Drake will appear on “Face the Nation.” 

The court’s ruling on affirmative action was especially long-awaited as numerous cases had come before the court on the topic before, and a majority allowed at least some consideration of race in admissions multiple times. 

The most recent major case before the court on the issue came in 2016, when the court upheld the admissions policy at the University of Texas at Austin following a lawsuit from a white student who challenged it. 

Former Attorney General Eric Holder, who served during the Obama administration, has been a proponent of affirmative action and just left his position leading the Justice Department shortly before the court’s last case on the subject. 

Holder, who will also appear on “Face the Nation,” criticized the Supreme Court’s decision in 2014 after it upheld a Michigan ballot initiative that banned the practice in higher education. 

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), a guest on “State of the Union,” has also been vocal after the court’s rulings. She argued that the Supreme Court should have abolished legacy admissions at universities, which she called “affirmative action for the privileged,” if they were serious about “ludicrous” arguments of the law being colorblind. 

“SCOTUS didn’t touch that – which would have impacted them and their patrons,” she said. 

Ocasio-Cortez also said the court’s ruling on the forgiveness program does not stop Biden from pursuing student loan forgiveness and called on the administration to use the Higher Education Act of 1965 to continue the plan “ASAP.” 

Biden announced later on Friday that he would use the law, which advocates argue allows the secretary of education to “compromise, waive or release” student loans, to continue the plan. He said Education Secretary Miguel Cardona has already taken initial steps to begin the process. 

Below is the full list of guests scheduled to appear on this week’s Sunday talk shows: 

ABC’s “This Week” — former Vice President Mike Pence, a GOP presidential candidate; Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) 

NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Anne Milgram, administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration; Sens. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) 

CBS’ “Face the Nation” — Pence; Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg; former Attorney General Eric Holder; University of California President Michael Drake; Lindsey Gorman, a senior fellow for emerging technologies at the German Marshall Fund 

CNN’s “State of the Union” — Buttigieg; Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.); former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a GOP presidential candidate; former Texas Rep. Will Hurd, a GOP presidential candidate 

“Fox News Sunday” — former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, a GOP presidential candidate; Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.) 

Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” — former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe; Republican presidential candidate Larry Elder; Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody (R); North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a GOP presidential candidate