Seven Republican-led states are suing to block President Biden's policies that would reduce or forgive debt for millions of student loan borrowers.
The lawsuit alleges that the Department of Education is “illegally attempting to mass cancel hundreds of billions of dollars of loans” before the rules are 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 Postclaims that Education Secretary Miguel Cardona is secretly “conspiratorially” trying to forgive student loan debt after being blocked twice by the courts.
In a statement, Bailey said the lawsuit challenges the Biden-Harris administration's “third and weakest attempt” to cancel massive amounts of loans “in the dark” and without informing Congress or the public.
“We were successful in stopping the first two unlawful student loan forgiveness schemes, and we are confident we can win additional victories to stop the third.” Bailey's statement said: “They may be throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks, but my office is there for them every step of the way.”
The new student loan forgiveness plan has not yet been finalized and is not expected until sometime this fall. No debts will be forgiven by then, but the lawsuit alleges the Biden administration is cutting corners to begin forgiveness “possibly this week.”
“This is grossly unfair and in clear violation of the law, which prohibits the Secretary from enforcing such regulations within 60 days of their publication,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit alleges that Governor Cardona knows that student loans that have already been forgiven cannot be cancelled by the state, which is why he is “secretly rushing to implement this rule so that no one can sue.”
The Hill has reached out to the White House and the Department of Education for comment.
