Eleven Republican-led states are suing the Biden administration over its efforts to “cancel” student loan debt.
The lawsuit, led by Kansas attorney general Kris Kobach, claims Biden’s Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) repayment program is the same as his first attempt to “cancel” student loan debt, which the Supreme Court rejected.
“Last time Defendants tried this the Supreme Court said that this action was illegal,” states the lawsuit, which was joined by the attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas and Utah.
“Nothing since then has changed, other than introducing more legal errors into this Rule’s underlying analysis,” the suit added.
Biden announced the SAVE repayment plan in 2022, alongside a separate plan to cancel up to $20,000 in debt for more than 40 million Americans. The Supreme Court blocked the cancellation plan after Republican states sued, but the court didn’t examine SAVE, which was still being hashed out.
The new lawsuit was filed this same week the White House hosted a “day of action” to promote the SAVE Plan. The Biden administration says more than 7.7 million borrowers have enrolled in the plan, including more than 5 million who have had their monthly payments reduced to $100 or less because they have lower yearly incomes. […]
The new plan offers more generous terms than ever, offering to reduce monthly payments for more borrowers and canceling loans in as little as 10 years. Unlike other plans, it prevents interest from snowballing as long as borrowers make their monthly payments.
The plan’s provisions are being phased in this year, and the quicker path to cancellation was originally scheduled to take effect later this summer. But the Biden administration accelerated that benefit and started canceling loans for some borrowers in February. (AP)
“Once again, the Biden administration has decided to steal from the poor and give to the rich. He is forcing people who did not go to college, or who worked their way through college, to pay for the loans of those who ran up exorbitant student debt. This coalition of Republican attorneys general will stand in the gap and stop Biden,” Kobach said in a statement.
“We intend to win again. The law simply does not allow Biden to do what he wants to do. Biden is trying to exercise the powers of a king rather than the powers of a President in a constitutional republic. We look forward to seeing the President’s attorneys in court,” he added.
