GOP-led states sue to end Biden’s student debt forgiveness policy

Seven GOP-led states are suing to block President Biden’s policy that would lower or eliminate debt for millions of student loan borrowers.

The lawsuit claims the Department of Education is “unlawfully trying to mass cancel hundreds of billions of dollars of loans” before the rule is finalized.

The lawsuit, led by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, was joined by Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, North Dakota and Ohio.

The lawsuit, first reported by The Washington Post , argues that Education Secretary Miguel Cardona is secretly, “through cloak and dagger,” trying to forgive student loan debt after courts stopped him twice before.

In a statement, Bailey said his latest lawsuit challenges the Biden-Harris administration’s “third and weakest attempt” to cancel loans in mass “in the dark of night” without letting Congress or the public know.

“We successfully halted their first two illegal student loan cancellations schemes; I have no doubt we will secure yet another win to block the third one,” Bailey said in a statement . “They may be throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks, but my office is meeting them every step of the way.”

The new plan to forgive student debt has yet to be finalized and will be some time this fall. No debt can be forgiven before then, but the lawsuit argues the Biden administration is cutting corners to begin canceling debt “potentially this week.”

“That is both extraordinarily inequitable and also expressly violates a statute prohibiting the Secretary from implementing rules like this one sooner than 60 days after publication,” the suit said.

The lawsuit alleges Cardona knows that student loans that have already been forgiven cannot be turned back by states, and that’s why he is “trying to quietly rush this rule out too quickly for anybody to sue.”

The Department of Education said it declines to comment on pending litigation but will “continue to fight for borrowers across the country who are struggling to repay their federal student loans.”

“The Department remains committed to supporting borrowers and fighting for affordable repayment options and relief for those who qualify,” a department spokesperson said in a statement. “We will continue to follow the law as we continue to prepare for possible debt relief this fall, which would only be implemented after the proposed rules first introduced this spring are finalized.”

The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.

Updated Sept. 4 at 11:25 a.m.

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