Seven states filed suit on Tuesday against President Joe Biden, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, and the U.S. Department of Education over Biden’s SAVE income-driven repayment student loan initiative.
Led by Missouri Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey, the lawsuit is joined by Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Dakota, Ohio, and Oklahoma.
"With the stroke of his pen, Joe Biden is attempting to saddle working Missourians with a half trillion dollars in college debt," Bailey said. "The United States Constitution makes clear that the president lacks the authority to unilaterally ‘cancel’ student loan debt for millions of Americans without express permission from Congress."
In a visit to Wisconsin on Monday, Biden detailed a proposal that would cancel at least some debt for more than 30 million Americans. It’s been in the works for months after the Supreme Court rejected Biden’s first try at mass cancellation.
Biden’s first attempt at widespread student loan cancellation would have erased $10,000 for borrowers with yearly incomes of up to $125,000, plus an additional $10,000 if they received federal Pell grants for low-income students. It was estimated to cost $400 billion and cancel at least some student debt for more than 40 million people.
The Supreme Court rejected that plan last year, saying Biden overstepped his authority.
The new plan uses a different legal justification — the Higher Education Act, which allows the secretary of education to waive student loan debt in certain cases. The Education Department has been going through a federal rulemaking process to clarify how the secretary can invoke that authority.
"President Biden from Day One has worked to fix the student loan system and make sure higher education is a ticket to the middle class — not a barrier to opportunity — because he knows that debt cancellation not only benefits borrowers, it benefits the entire economy," read the official statement from the White House.
Bailey said Biden is attempting to thwart the Constitution to suit his political agenda.
"I’m filing suit to halt his brazen attempt to curry favor with some citizens by forcing others to shoulder their debts," Bailey said. "The Constitution will continue to mean something as long as I’m attorney general."
"Just last year, the Supreme Court struck down an attempt by the President to force teachers, truckers, and farmers to pay for the student loan debt of other Americans — to the enormous tune of $430 billion," the lawsuit read. "In striking down that attempt, the Court declared that the President cannot 'unilaterally alter large sections of the American economy.'"
"Undeterred, the President is at it again, even bragging that 'the Supreme Court blocked it. They blocked it. But that didn’t stop me,'" the states added.
In March, 11 states, led by Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, filed a lawsuit arguing the new plan is no different than Biden's first effort in loan cancellation which the Supreme Court rejected in June of 2023. Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah, joined Kansas in the previous suit.
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