- Seven states sue to block the Biden administration’s latest attempt at mass student loan cancellation
- The lawsuit claims the Department of Education is trying to implement the plan secretly and immediately
- This follows two previous failed attempts at large-scale student debt relief
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, leading a coalition of seven states, filed a lawsuit this week against the Biden-Harris Administration’s third attempt at mass student loan forgiveness. This lawsuit, accusing the government of a “cloak and dagger” strategy, comes just days after the Supreme Court upheld a previous ruling against the Administration’s second loan cancellation plan.
Details:
- The lawsuit claims the Department of Education has instructed federal contractors to begin loan cancellation as early as September 3, 2024, without publishing the plan or notifying Congress.
- The states argue that the actual cost of this “Third Mass Cancellation Rule” could be over $600 billion, combining the Department’s estimate of $146.9 billion with much of the $475 billion cost of the previously blocked SAVE Plan.
- The legal challenge asserts that this latest attempt is the “weakest yet” in terms of legal authority and contradicts the Department’s own statements from 2021.
What they’re saying: “The Biden-Harris Administration is dedicated to saddling working Americans with Ivy League debt, even if they have to break the law to do it,” Bailey said\. He added, “They may be throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks, but my office is meeting them every step of the way.”
The big picture: This lawsuit represents the third major legal challenge to the Biden administration’s efforts to provide large-scale student loan forgiveness. The previous two attempts were blocked by federal courts, including a ruling by the Supreme Court.
What’s next: The states are seeking an emergency temporary restraining order to prevent the implementation of the plan. They argue that immediate relief is necessary to avoid the unlawful forgiveness of $73 billion overnight, with potentially hundreds of billions more to follow.
The bottom line: As the Biden administration continues to pursue student loan forgiveness, it faces persistent legal challenges from Republican-led states, setting the stage for another potential showdown in the federal courts over the limits of executive authority in addressing student debt.
