The attorneys general of Georgia and six other states filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Biden administration and federal education officials to stop what they say is an “unlawful” plan in the works to cancel at least $73 billion in student loan debt nationwide.
The lawsuit complaint, filed in the Southern District of Georgia, says the U.S. Department of Education has instructed third-party organizations that service federal loans to begin canceling hundreds of billions of dollars beginning potentially this week. The complaint says the department doesn’t have the authority to enact such loan cancellations. Georgia is among several states that have battled with the department in various courts this year over debt relief.
“This is the third time the secretary has unlawfully tried to mass cancel hundreds of billions of dollars in loans,” the lawsuit complaint says. “Courts stopped him the first two times, when he tried to do so openly. So now he is trying to do so through cloak and dagger.”
The states are seeking a temporary restraining order to stop the potential action.
Georgia was one of seven states that signed on to a federal lawsuit filed in April in U.S. District Court in Missouri against the department to challenge its SAVE plan, which launched last year as a way to provide an income-based student loan repayment program with lower monthly payments and to offer early loan forgiveness for eligible borrowers. A federal court earlier this year issued an injunction preventing the federal government from implementing parts of the SAVE plan and other income-driven repayment plans. Biden’s earlier attempt to provide widespread student loan forgiveness was blocked last year by the U.S. Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision.
The U.S. Department of Education said in a statement Wednesday it declines to comment on pending litigation, “but we 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,” they added.
The complaint, though, says the debt relief plan would forgive tens or hundreds of billions of dollars without any judicial review and is designed to boost Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. The attorneys general in the other states in the lawsuit — Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, North Dakota and Ohio — are all Republicans.
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