The US Supreme Court’s conservative majority cast doubt on President Joe Biden’s plan to slash the student debt of more than 40 million people, imperiling one of his signature initiatives in a high-stakes showdown over presidential power.

President Joe Biden faces a formidable obstacle in his bid to slash the student debt of more than 40 million people: a US Supreme Court that has repeatedly thwarted his agenda.

The US Supreme Court expanded a planned showdown over President Joe Biden’s student-loan relief plan, saying it will hear arguments from two borrowers who contend they are being unfairly excluded from the full scope of the program.

Opponents of Harvard College’s affirmative action policies asked the Supreme Court to bar colleges from using race as an admissions factor, setting up what could be a defining showdown for higher education and the court’s conservative majority.

U.S. Supreme Court conservatives including new Justice Amy Coney Barrett weighed bolstering religious rights in a case that could let a Catholic charity refuse to work with same-sex couples when helping to place foster children in Philadelphia.