On Thursday, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought against the Biden administration by six Republican attorneys general over the government’s decision to forgive $10,000 in student debt for millions of students.
Authorities in certain states were unhappy with Vice President Biden’s proposal to forgive student loans, which would write off $10,000 in debt for borrowers with annual earnings of less than $125,000 and $20,000 for those who received federal Pell grants.
AG of Nebraska A statement says that after US District Judge Henry Autrey of the Eastern District of Missouri decided that his court lacked jurisdiction to hear the dispute, Doug Peterson “sought prompt redress” from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
To support “members of the United States military” in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Department of Education was granted “special waiver power” under a program implemented by the Biden administration, which was met with opposition from state attorneys general. They also referred to the Supreme Court’s recent decision in West Virginia v. EPA, which found that the EPA cannot exercise “very significant power beyond what Congress may legitimately be believed to have delegated.”
When the Brown County Taxpayers Association of Wisconsin filed an appeal with Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, they were unsuccessful in their bid to have the court reject the government’s student loan debt relief program. Both losses occurred after the White House introduced a website via which individuals may request that their student loans be forgiven. Vice President Joe Biden claimed in a speech on Monday that anyone could apply for debt forgiveness online in “less than five minutes” and that more than 8 million people had done so “without a difficulty” since the test site went live on Friday.
CBO predicts that the cost of canceling the loans might reach $400 billion, raising budgetary concerns. About $360 billion of that sum will go to students receiving Pell Grants, who come from low-income households and are statistically more likely to default on their loans.
Opponents of the administration’s position believe the decision to temporarily halt new student loan applications was just a tactic to win over Democratic votes before the 2019 midterms. The Pacific Legal Foundation filed a lawsuit challenging the measure, calling it a “election year ploy” that does little to address the root reasons of rising tuition expenses.
While progressives strive to distance themselves from Vice President Joe Biden’s dismal economic record, Democratic candidates in competitive midterm elections in swing states have criticized the plan. In a recent CNBC poll, 59% of respondents indicated they were concerned that eliminating student loan debt would have a detrimental effect on inflation.
In a statement, Ohio Senate candidate Tim Ryan stated, “As someone who is paying off his family’s student debt, I recognize that the expenses of higher education are too expensive.” Even though it’s clear that a college education should be about increasing one’s options, removing debt for people who are already on a path to financial security sends the wrong message to the millions of Ohioans who lack a degree but are working just as hard to make ends meet.