A group of republicans has come together with a plan to sue President Joe Biden over his recent student loan forgiveness plan.
They hope to put together a legal strategy that could potentially stop millions of Americans from receiving up to $20,000 in debt cancellation.
“I’ve been working with some colleagues trying to develop the best legal theory of moving to sue the Biden administration over the student loan forgiveness policy,” Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a Republican, told CNN Thursday.
“I think any real lawyer knows that there is not a legal basis for doing what they’re doing,” he added, calling the policy “fundamentally unfair.”
Just last week, Biden announced that the Education Department would cancel up to $10,000 of federal student loan debt for individuals who earn less than $125,000 a year and married couples or heads of households who make less than $250,000 a year. Borrowers who also received a Pell Grant award are eligible to receive up to $20,000 in forgiveness.
The Biden administration confirmed Congress previously granted the executive branch the authority to cancel student loan debt in the event of a national emergency, hence, the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, canceling federal student loan debt significantly is unprecedented and has yet to be tried in court. The president initially urged Congress to make a move to cancel some student debt rather than him, but Democrats don’t have the votes to pass the legislation.
A conservative advocacy group called The Job Creators Network is also considering filing a lawsuit. The group is founded by Bernie Marcus, who is a donor to Donald Trump and the former Home Depot CEO.
“Job Creators Network Foundation is still evaluating its legal options as we await the Biden administration’s official action to forgive student debt,” said the group’s CEO, Alfredo Ortiz, in a statement. The foundation is the organization’s education arm, CNN reported.
“We plan to stand up for ordinary Americans and small business owners and block this illegal executive overreach from taking effect,” he added.
The Biden administration argued that the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act, also known as the Heroes Act, gives power to the education secretary to cancel student debt to help address the financial harm individuals suffered due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Heroes Act passed following the September 11 terrorist attacks “provides the Secretary broad authority to grant relief from student loan requirements during specific periods,” including a war, other military operation, or national emergency, according to the education department’s released memo.
The Justice Department also released a memo, adding that the education secretary “may reasonably conclude that class-wide debt relief in these circumstances is appropriate.”
However, those supporting arguments may not stop critics from going through with a lawsuit.
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