Kansas, 10 other states sue Biden administration over latest student loan forgiveness plan

(The Sentinel) – Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, along with the attorneys general of ten other states, is suing the Biden Administration over its latest attempt to cancel the debt of thousands of student loan borrowers.

The suit filed in Kansas District Court in Wichita on March 28th includes Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah

On the Mundo in the Morning program, Attorney General Kobach provided background to this second suit in two years over the loan forgiveness issue:

“In 2022, President Biden attempted to cancel, or forgive, student loans to the tune of $430 billion total. Six states, of which Kansas was one, sued. That case went all the way to the Supreme Court, and in the summer of 2023, the Supreme Court struck it down; and said the law doesn’t allow you to do this, President Biden, and furthermore, this is a question reserved for Congress. Congress can do it, but not you.

“Fast forward to the present. The Biden Administration, instead of following the Supreme Court order, said, ‘We’re just going to do it a different way.’ The President even boasted about a month-and-a-half ago that ‘The Court blocked it, but that didn’t stop me.’ So, the new loan forgiveness plan is slightly smaller than the old one ($156 billion), but it’s just as illegal. It twists federal law to find some plausible way that maybe the law allows it, but it doesn’t.

“The first time the Biden Administration tried this move, they did so by claiming they were just “modifying” the loans, but the Supreme Court said no, you’re not modifying the loans, you’re canceling the loans. This time, they’re coming back and saying we’re simply changing the terms of the loan repayment. But Pete (Mundo), when you and I ask for a change in loan repayment from the bank, we know exactly what that means. Maybe it goes from a five-year to a ten-year loan, the rate of interest might change, but we still have to pay back the principal. But the Biden Administration is, of course, forgiving the principal; the majority of loans will go to zero under the new plan.”

The lawsuit claims the Biden Administration has declared some 1,300 Kansans have received $9.9 million in student loan forgiveness under this latest plan.

In a news release, Kobach defends the student loan lawsuit, in addition to its legal arguments, as a matter of fairness:

“Once again, the Biden administration has decided to steal from the poor and give to the rich. He is forcing people who did not go to college or who worked their way through college to pay for the loans of those who ran up exorbitant student debt. This coalition of Republican attorneys general will stand in the gap and stop Biden.”