Seven Republican-led states filed a lawsuit on Tuesday to challenge President Joe Biden’s administration’s latest student debt forgiveness plan. The U.S. Department of Education plans to start canceling loans as soon as this week, prompting the legal action.
The lawsuit follows a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that rejected the Biden administration’s attempt to revive a different student debt relief plan, which aimed to lower monthly payments for millions of borrowers and accelerate loan forgiveness for some.
State attorneys general, including those from Georgia and Missouri, filed the lawsuit in federal court in Brunswick, Georgia. They targeted a rule proposed by the Education Department in April, which seeks to waive federal student loan debts for approximately 27.6 million borrowers.
The attorneys general recently obtained documents indicating that the Education Department has instructed federal loan servicers to start canceling billions of dollars in loans as early as either Tuesday or Saturday.
The lawsuit argues that the Education Department lacks the authority to implement this plan and claims the proposal violates federal rulemaking procedures. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey expressed confidence in their case, stating, “We successfully halted their first two illegal student loan cancellation schemes; I have no doubt we will secure yet another win to block the third one.”
The Education Department has not yet responded to requests for comment.
