Six Republican-led states are suing Joe Biden’s administration after he announced a student loan debt relief plan.
On Thursday, Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, South Carolina, and Nebraska claimed the White House is overstepping its legal bounds by canceling the debt.
The lawsuit states the debt relief plan is a violation of federal law. It also claims Biden’s plan is “not remotely tailored to address the effects of the pandemic on federal student loan borrowers.”
“It’s patently unfair to saddle hard-working Americans with the loan debt of those who chose to go to college,” Arkansas Attorney General says. “The Department of Education is required, under the law, to collect the balance due on loans. And President Biden does not have the authority to override that.”
In addition, the states argue that Biden’s decision is forcing Missouri’s loan servicer into “a number of ongoing financial harms.”
However, a White House spokesperson says, “Republican officials from these six states are standing with special interests, and fighting to stop relief for borrowers buried under mountains of debt. The president and his administration are lawfully giving working and middle class families breathing room as they recover from the pandemic and prepare to resume loan payments in January.”
If you’re not aware, President Biden announced a student loan forgiveness plan in August. The plan will cancel up to $10,000 in student loan debt for borrowers making less than $125,000 per year or households with less than $250,000 in income. The relief plan will also forgive an additional $10,000 in debt for Pell Grant recipients.
