President Joe Biden and Education Secretary Michael Cardona His plans for student loan debt relief are being sued once again.
A group of Republican-led states is taking legal action against the federal government in an attempt to end the plans Reduce or eliminate debt For millions of student loan borrowers. In the lawsuit filed Tuesday by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey and joined by Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, North Dakota and Ohio, the plaintiffs argue that Biden and Cardona have “illegally attempted to cancel millions of dollars in loans.”
The latest legal action relates to a new proposed regulation intended to help borrowers who are excluded from current loan forgiveness initiatives or burdened with unsustainable debt. The plan, developed through a federally negotiated rulemaking process, is slated for approval in the fall.
However, the attorneys general of Republican-led states said they had obtained documents showing the department had directed federal loan servicers to begin canceling hundreds of billions of dollars in loans as early as Sept. 3 or Sept. 7, marking the official finalization of the rule. . States argue that the government has no such power to carry out its schemes.
“This is the third time the Secretary has attempted to unlawfully cancel hundreds of billions of dollars in loans en masse,” said the filing in federal court in Brunswick, Georgia. “The court stopped him the first two times, when he tried to do so openly. So now he is trying to do it by cloak and dagger.
In a statement, Bailey said: “The Biden-Harris administration is dedicated to saddling Americans dealing with Ivy League debt, even if they have to break the law to do it. Our latest lawsuit is their third and weakest attempt to write off student loans en masse in the dark of night.” Challenges the effort. Congress—or the public—knows about it. It is illegal.
“We successfully blocked the first two of their illegal student loan cancellation plans; I have no doubt we’ll win another to block the third. They can throw spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks, but my office got them every step of the way. has been
Newsweek The Department of Education has been contacted by email for comment outside normal working hours.
What happened so far?
GOP-led states have taken legal action twice this year to block Biden’s debt relief plans from moving forward. In June 2023, Republican-led states persuaded the U.S Supreme Courtwhich has a 6-3 conservative majority, to block the $430 billion program backed by Biden.
That program would have canceled up to $20,000 of debt per borrower for 43 million Americans. Biden said in March: “Following the Supreme Court decision on my administration’s original student debt relief plan, we continue to pursue an alternative path to deliver student debt relief to as many borrowers as possible, as quickly as possible.”
Administration following the shock SAVE Plan introducedThe aim is to lower monthly payments for millions of borrowers and accelerate loan forgiveness for some.
However, Republican-led states—Missouri, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Dakota, Ohio, and Oklahoma—persuaded a federal appeals court to issue an injunction with a lawsuit that argued the SAVE plan lacked congressional authority. On 28th August Supreme Court H Refused to lift the injunction.
“The SAVE plan is a clearly authorized and urgently needed effort to fix what ails our student loan system and make higher education more affordable in this country,” Cardona said in a statement issued Aug. 12.
While the lawsuit is pending, the Education Department said, SAVE enrollees will be placed in interest-free forbearance.
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