Biden-Harris Admin Make Yet Another Attempt At Student Loan Cancelation As Election Nears
'I will not stop fighting'
A federal judge reinstated a plan by the Biden administration to forgive billions in student loans just in time for the election.
President Joe Biden's loan plan had been blocked by a temporary restraining order over a lawsuit from Republican attorneys general in seven states, including Florida, Georgia, and Ohio. The lawsuit accused the Biden administration of unconstitutionally overstepping its authority.
'You are bribing one set of voters by transferring their debt to the rest of us taxpayers.'
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Randal Hall ended the restraining order and allowed the plan to be reinstated. Hall said that the lawsuit did not have the proper standing for a lawsuit against the president's scheme. The lawsuit was transferred to Missouri, where Biden's program would harm a loan servicer.
A statement from the U.S. Department of Education indicated the administration intended to continue to pursue the voter bribery scheme.
"This lawsuit reflects an ongoing effort by Republican elected officials who want to prevent millions of their own constituents from getting breathing room on their student loans,” said a DOE spokesperson. “We will not stop fighting to fix the broken student loan system and provide support and relief to borrowers across the country.”
Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas criticized Biden after the decision.
"Let me fix it for you. It’s a student loan TRANSFER. Not 'forgiveness.' You are bribing one set of voters by transferring their debt to the rest of us taxpayers," Crenshaw posted on social media.
"That’s a transfer of debt responsibility without transferring any of the benefits incurred by the doctors and lawyers that got the loans for their higher education. It is one of the most unethical–not to mention illegal–bribery schemes in recent history," he added.
While many on the left called it a massive win for Biden, Axios characterized it as a "small victory" given that a Missouri court can still put the program on hold before it is implemented.
Judge Hall was appointed by George W. Bush.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Two judges sided against the student loan forgiveness plan pushed by President Joe Biden based on a challenge from Republican-led states on Monday.
Biden promised during his 2016 campaign to transfer student loan debt from those who borrowed money to all taxpayers, but eleven states filed a lawsuit accusing Biden of usurping the power of Congress.
'Kansas’s victory today is a victory for the entire country ... This is not only unconstitutional, it’s unfair.'
U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree in Wichita, Kansas, blocked parts of the plan moments before U.S. District Judge John Ross in St. Louis, Missouri, issued a preliminary injunction against the plan. Biden's plot was scheduled to go into effect on July 1.
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach praised the rulings in a written statement.
“Kansas’s victory today is a victory for the entire country,” wrote Kobach. “As the court correctly held, whether to forgive billions of dollars of student debt is a major question that only Congress can answer. Biden’s administration is attempting to usurp Congress’s authority. This is not only unconstitutional, it’s unfair. Blue collar Kansas workers who didn’t go to college shouldn’t have to pay off the student loans of New Yorkers with gender studies degrees.”
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey posted about the decision on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
"The Court has granted our motion to BLOCK Joe Biden’s illegal student loan plan," Bailey posted. "Congress never gave Biden the authority to saddle working Americans with half-a-trillion dollars in other people's debt. A huge win for the Constitution."
'This unconstitutional handout is costing taxpayers billions.'
Republican Rep. Stephanie of Oklahoma reminded people that the student loan forgiveness plan would have massive financial consequences for the budget.
"Biden's student loan giveaway is not free and this unconstitutional handout is costing taxpayers billions," she said on social media.
She added an article from CNN reporting that the plan would contribute to a 27% budget shortfall, according to the Congressional Budgeting Office.
One survey from Bankrate found that 18% of Americans said student debt will have a major influence on their voting choices in November, while the rate increased to 29% among those who had outstanding student loans.
Former President Donald Trump has excoriated Biden's student forgiveness plans and called them "vile" and illegal.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Eleven states, led by Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach (R), filed a lawsuit on Thursday against the Biden administration after the White House announced last week yet another round of federal student loan debt “forgiveness,” Fox Business reported.
The lawsuit reads, “A coalition of States sues Defendant Biden, as well as co-defendants the Department of Education and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, to stop a second attempt to avoid Congress and pass an illegal student debt forgiveness. Last time Defendants tried this the Supreme Court said that this action was illegal. Nothing since then has changed.”
Since the Supreme Court’s June decision to strike down the Biden administration’s plan to enact sweeping, unilateral debt cancellations, the White House has ultimately ignored the court’s ruling and unveiled numerous smaller programs that meet the same ends. Biden’s original failed cancellation program would have eliminated $10,000 of federal student loan debt for borrowers earning less than $125,000 per year and married couples earning less than $250,000 per year. If the program had been allowed to move forward, the administration would have laid approximately $430 billion of unpaid student loan debt at the feet of American taxpayers.
The Biden administration has bragged about his new plan to cancel debt for 4 million Americans totaling at least $143.6 billion.
“In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision on my Administration’s original student debt relief plan, we are continuing to pursue an alternative path to deliver student debt relief to as many borrowers as possible as quickly as possible,” Biden stated.
Last week, the White House announced that student loan borrowers working in the public service sector, including teachers, nurses, and firefighters, will see $6 billion of student loan debt canceled.
Kansas AG Kobach, along with Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah, sued Biden for rolling out the so-called debt forgiveness programs.
Kobach told Fox News Digital, “Not since the Civil War has a president told the Supreme Court, ‘Yeah you blocked me, but I’m gonna do it anyway.’”
“Biden is trying to twist federal law once again, and his new plan is just as illegal as the old plan,” he declared.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said that the state also intends to sue the administration for the debt cancellations, noting that Arkansas would join as well.
“Between our two coalitions of states, we will get this matter in front of a judge even more quickly to deliver a win for the American people. The Supreme Court sided with Missouri on this matter the first time. I look forward to bringing home yet another win for the Constitution and the rule of law,” Bailey stated.
The White House did not respond to Fox Business' request for comment.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!