Six Conservative States Challenge Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness Plan

Six states, each led by Republicans, challenged President Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness program in federal court in Missouri on Thursday.

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Arkansas leadership has been quite vocal in their dissent and other states including Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina have joined the effort to strike the program down.

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, who has stated many times on record she was willing to challenge the administration’s plan to cancel student loan debt, in a Thursday press conference said the decision was a disgrace, “the president is trying to bail out adult college students who voluntarily took out these loans.”

This challenge is the second filed against the legislation just this week, coming just days before the program’s plan to share an application for those eligible for debt relief.

Rutledge said Biden acted beyond his authority by implementing widespread forgiveness. She said the president has officially declared the pandemic over and questioned how he could discharge student debt now, using the impact of coronavirus as his reasoning.

The states are seeking a preliminary injunction – which would halt the administration’s plans – given the Education Department may begin discharging debts as early as next month.

The program, announced in August, outlines that the U.S. government will forgive $10,000 in student loans for millions of debt-saddled former college students, with the Congressional Budget Office predicting the initiative will cost the country north of $400 billion.

“When President Biden attempts to circumvent the Constitution in order to deliver on a political promise, myself and other state attorneys general take issue with this,” Rutledge stated.

Other critics of the plan have raised concerns over its inflationary impact as well as the true result of debt discharge on borrowers.

Earlier this week, the Pacific Legal Foundation also filed a suit against the administration, claiming some borrowers would be hurt by the debt cancellation. The suit specifically highlighted how some states plan to tax the debt forgiveness.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre did say Monday that borrowers are allowed to “opt out” of debt cancellation if they choose. She accused opposers of trying to stop Biden’s action on student loan debt “because they know it will provide much-needed relief for working families.”