Louisiana is one of 11 states that have joined to sue President Joe Biden over his administration’s student loan forgiveness plan.
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach filed the action Thursday in federal court. In addition to Kobach and Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas and Utah joined the suit.
“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.
A day before the filing, the White House released a fact sheet about the SAVE plan to cancel student debt in the U.S.
“We have forgiven nearly $144 billion for almost four million Americans while also creating the SAVE Plan so that millions of people can cut their payments in half or entirely,” said Vice President Kamala Harris. “On SAVE Day of Action, I am urging people across the nation to visit StudentAid.Gov/Save to apply as the president and I continue fighting to address the burden of student debt and lower costs throughout the country.”
Previously, the Biden administration attempted to cancel student loans for nearly $430 billion. In 2022, the White House explained that this effort was aimed at dealing with the student loan crisis fueled by college costs that have ballooned more than the rise of inflation since 1980.
“The skyrocketing cumulative federal student loan debt – $1.6 trillion and rising for more than 45 million borrowers—is a significant burden on America’s middle class,” it said.
However, that effort was blocked by Republicans in a separate suit.
“In the landmark case of Biden v. Nebraska, 143 S. Ct. 2355 (2023), the Supreme Court rejected Defendant Biden’s assertion that he could utilize an inapplicable provision of the HEROES Act as a pretext to burden the public with hundreds of billions of dollars in student debt,” said the lawsuit filed this week. “Now, a coalition of States sues Defendant Biden, as well as co-defendants the Department of Education and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, to stop a second attempt to avoid Congress and pass an illegal student debt forgiveness.”
It also said that defendants in the case released a rule purporting to abolish $156 million in student debt.
“The multistate lawsuit argues that U.S. Department of Education doesn’t have the authority to alter student loan repayment plans, essentially canceling more than $156 million in student loan debt,” said a press release from Kobach’s office. “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,” Kobach said.