Federal judge blocks Biden-Harris student loan forgiveness again

Less than 24 hours after a federal judge in Georgia ruled the Biden-Harris student loan forgiveness program could move forward, a federal judge in Missouri blocked it again.

U.S. District Judge J. Randal Hall in Georgia ruled Georgia residents would not be hurt by Biden-Harris’s student loan forgiveness program and let a restraining order blocking the plan expire, reported Newsweek.

But U.S. District Judge Matthew Schelp in Missouri granted a new restraining order less than 24 hours later, nixing the Biden-Harris plan, at least temporarily, said the AP.

Republican Attorneys General in Missouri, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Dakota and Ohio have joined the lawsuit to stop the Biden-Harris plan, reported Newsweek. 

“This lawsuit was brought by Republican elected officials who made clear they will stop at nothing to prevent millions of their own constituents from getting breathing room on their student loans,” claimed Biden-Harris’s Department of Education in a statement, the AP reported. 

But Judge Schelp, in his three-page order, said the Republican Attorneys General “are likely to succeed on the merits [of the case] in showing that [Biden-Harris’s] actions would be unlawful,” in trying to mass cancel the loans.  

Schelp noted: “Balancing the harm and the injury, merged with the public’s interest, easily leads this Court to the conclusion that preliminary injunctive relief” should be granted in the case. 

“Allowing Defendants to eliminate the student loan debt at issue here would prevent this Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court from reviewing this matter on the backend, allowing Defendants’ actions to evade review,” concluded Schelp.  

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who brought the suit, said the injunction was a victory for transparency. 

“Today is a huge victory for every working American who won’t have to foot the bill for someone else’s Ivy League debt,” said Bailey in a statement. “I paid for my education in blood, sweat, and tears in service to my country, so this fight is personal for me. We will continue to lead the way for working Americans who are being preyed upon by unelected federal bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.” 

Bailey noted that on two previous occasions courts have stopped Biden-Harris from forgiving student loans through executive orders. 

The Missouri AG described Biden-Harris of using a “cloak and dagger” strategy, instead of going Congress to forgive the loans. 

The lawsuit estimates the total cost of Biden-Harris’s loan forgiveness program at $622 billion. 

But one student loan reform advocate warned the Biden-Harris plan is more political theater than it is practical. 

“Biden’s election year cancellation gimmick was never actually meant to happen,” Allan Collinge from Student Loan Justice told The Lion via email. “Behind the scenes, the fact is that the entire political establishment – especially the Department of Education – doesn’t want to lose the Golden Goose. Biden’s proposal being litigated to death (like his previous effort) was always the plan.” 

But Collinge warned that Republicans still have to come up with a plan for student loan reform, or risk being “played by Democrats.” 

“Unless the Republicans actually stand up to the Department of Education before the election, call for bankruptcy rights to be returned to these loans, put the colleges on the hook financially for it, and rein in the Department of Education, they will get clobbered by the 40 million distressed student loan voters in November,” said Collinge. 

Collinge believes the issue shouldn’t be partisan. He claimed that over half of student loan borrowers are either Republican or Independent and the worst-hurt states from soaring debt are Republican-controlled.  

“Missourians, for example, owe the Department of Education more than their entire state budget… These are not elite, ivy league people. They’re 20% of the GOP adult base,” he noted. 

The Missouri lawsuit notes the Biden-Harris administration has “quietly instructed federal contractors to ‘immediately’ begin cancellation [of student loans] as early as September 3, 2024” while trying to avoid publication of the plan in the Federal Register as required by law.