JEFFERSON CITY, MO. – Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has initiated a multistate lawsuit against the Biden-Harris Administration’s third student loan cancellation plan. This legal action follows closely on the heels of a United States Supreme Court decision that upheld his order blocking the administration's second attempt at student loan cancellation.
“The Biden-Harris Administration is dedicated to saddling working Americans with Ivy League debt, even if they have to break the law to do it. Our latest lawsuit challenges their third and weakest attempt to mass-cancel student loans in the dark of night without letting Congress – or the public – know about it. That’s illegal,” stated Attorney General Bailey. “We successfully halted their first two illegal student loan cancellation schemes; I have no doubt we will secure yet another win to block the third one. They may be throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks, but my office is meeting them every step of the way.”
The states involved in the suit claim, “Through compulsory process at the end of August, the States have just obtained documents proving that the Secretary [of Education] is implementing this plan without publication and has been planning to do so since May. The Secretary of Education (1) is unlawfully trying to mass cancel hundreds of billions of dollars of loans, and (2) has quietly instructed federal contractors to ‘immediately’ begin cancellation as early as September 3, 2024 (but possibly beginning on September 7).”
They further argue, “The actual cost of the Third Mass Cancellation Rule is thus the $146.9 billion estimated by the Department plus much of the $475 billion cost of the SAVE Plan. This is the third time the Secretary has unlawfully tried to mass cancel hundreds of billions of dollars in loans. 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 United States Supreme Court previously ruled in favor of Attorney General Bailey’s challenges against what he termed unconstitutional wealth transfers involving hundreds of billions in student loan debt by blocking two prior plans from the Biden Administration.
Joining Attorney General Bailey in this legal challenge are attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Dakota, and Ohio.
The full text of the lawsuit can be accessed here.