LITTLE ROCK – Attorney General Tim Griffin issued a statement today in response to the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals granting an emergency stay in the case of Missouri v. Biden, which again halts the Biden administration’s attempt to cancel student debt.
“This is the latest blow to President Biden’s unlawful plans to cancel student loans without congressional approval. Our coalition won at the lower court last month, and we have continued to win in the Eighth Circuit. The President is disregarding the separation of powers in the Constitution and the fundamentals so clearly articulated in Schoolhouse Rock. I am grateful the courts continue to prevent President Biden from doing an end-run around Congress,” Griffin stated.
Griffin is co-leading the lawsuit with Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, joined by attorneys general from Florida, Georgia, North Dakota, Ohio, and Oklahoma.
Tim Griffin was sworn in as the 57th Attorney General of Arkansas on January 10, 2023. He previously served as Arkansas's 20th Lieutenant Governor from 2015-2023 and as a representative for Arkansas’s Second Congressional District from 2011-2015. During his tenure in Congress, he served on several committees including Ways and Means, Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, Ethics, and Judiciary while also acting as a Deputy Whip for the Majority.
Griffin has been an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps for over 28 years and currently holds the rank of colonel. In 2005, he was mobilized to active duty as an Army prosecutor at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, serving with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Mosul, Iraq. He now commands the 2d Legal Operations Detachment in New Orleans.
His previous military assignments include commanding the 134th Legal Operations Detachment at Fort Liberty (formerly Bragg), North Carolina, and serving as a Senior Legislative Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness at the Pentagon. Griffin earned a master’s degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College.
In addition to his military service, Griffin has held various legal roles including U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas and Special Assistant positions under President George W. Bush and Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff.
Griffin graduated from Magnolia High School, Hendrix College in Conway, Tulane Law School in New Orleans, and attended graduate school at Oxford University. He is admitted to practice law in Arkansas (active) and Louisiana (inactive). He resides in Little Rock with his wife Elizabeth and their three children.
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