Joe Biden's administration is facing two separate lawsuits from Republicans over plans to reduce student loan debt across the country.
The president's major plans to reduce and cancel federal student loan debts has irked Republicans, and two groups of GOP-led states are now taking legal action against both him and the Education Department.
Combined, 18 states have joined one of two lawsuits challenging the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan launched by the president in 2023.
Newsweek has contacted the Education Department for comment via email.
SAVE has since cancelled the federal student loan debts of 150,000 borrowers nationwide. More than seven million debt holders have enrolled in the program so far, according to the White House.
Which states have sued Biden and why?
In 1993, Congress granted the Education Department the power to create repayment plans for federal loan borrowers. Now, both lawsuits claim Biden and the Education Department do not have the authority to bring about new plans as they do not have the backing of Congress.
The first lawsuit was filed by Kansas attorney general Kris Kobach in March. It claims Biden and the Education Department are transforming loans "into outright grants from the federal government — without any appropriation from Congress."
This suit is backed by Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas and Utah. The Education Department has declined to comment directly on the case, but said that the "Biden-Harris Administration won't stop fighting to provide support and relief to borrowers across the country—no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stop us," according to a statement seen by The Associated Press.
The second lawsuit has been filed by Missouri attorney general Andrew Bailey in conjunction with Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Dakota, Ohio and Oklahoma. It makes a similar case to the first lawsuit, but also argues that Missouri-based student loan contractor MOHELA stands to face an "imminent loss of revenue" thanks to Biden's plans.
"Yet again, the President is unilaterally trying to impose an extraordinarily expensive and controversial policy that he could not get through Congress," reads the second lawsuit filed last week.
"This latest attempt to sidestep the Constitution is only the most recent instance in a long but troubling pattern of the President relying on innocuous language from decades-old statutes to impose drastic, costly policy changes on the American people without their consent."
"As Attorney General, I will protect the Constitution, which involves fighting back against the crooked Biden bailout," said Bailey. "There is no such thing as cancelling a debt, there is only shifting who will bear its weight. As a combat veteran, I paid for my education in blood, sweat, and tears, so this unconstitutional redistribution of wealth is personal for me.
"It's a slap in the face to every working American who made a different choice, and my office will use every legal tool at our disposal to halt any attempt by the Biden Administration to saddle Missourians with other people's debt."
Missouri was a central player in the suit that brought down Biden's previous student debt forgiveness plans, separate to the SAVE plan, which were thwarted by the Supreme Court in June 2023.
Biden's latest debt relief plans are adapted from this. He said in February: "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,"
The president's major plans to reduce and cancel federal student loan debts has irked Republicans, and two groups of GOP-led states are now taking legal action against both him and the Education Department.
Combined, 18 states have joined one of two lawsuits challenging the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan launched by the president in 2023.
Newsweek has contacted the Education Department for comment via email.
SAVE has since cancelled the federal student loan debts of 150,000 borrowers nationwide. More than seven million debt holders have enrolled in the program so far, according to the White House.
Which states have sued Biden and why?
In 1993, Congress granted the Education Department the power to create repayment plans for federal loan borrowers. Now, both lawsuits claim Biden and the Education Department do not have the authority to bring about new plans as they do not have the backing of Congress.
The first lawsuit was filed by Kansas attorney general Kris Kobach in March. It claims Biden and the Education Department are transforming loans "into outright grants from the federal government — without any appropriation from Congress."
This suit is backed by Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas and Utah. The Education Department has declined to comment directly on the case, but said that the "Biden-Harris Administration won't stop fighting to provide support and relief to borrowers across the country—no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stop us," according to a statement seen by The Associated Press.
The second lawsuit has been filed by Missouri attorney general Andrew Bailey in conjunction with Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Dakota, Ohio and Oklahoma. It makes a similar case to the first lawsuit, but also argues that Missouri-based student loan contractor MOHELA stands to face an "imminent loss of revenue" thanks to Biden's plans.
"Yet again, the President is unilaterally trying to impose an extraordinarily expensive and controversial policy that he could not get through Congress," reads the second lawsuit filed last week.
"This latest attempt to sidestep the Constitution is only the most recent instance in a long but troubling pattern of the President relying on innocuous language from decades-old statutes to impose drastic, costly policy changes on the American people without their consent."
"As Attorney General, I will protect the Constitution, which involves fighting back against the crooked Biden bailout," said Bailey. "There is no such thing as cancelling a debt, there is only shifting who will bear its weight. As a combat veteran, I paid for my education in blood, sweat, and tears, so this unconstitutional redistribution of wealth is personal for me.
"It's a slap in the face to every working American who made a different choice, and my office will use every legal tool at our disposal to halt any attempt by the Biden Administration to saddle Missourians with other people's debt."
Missouri was a central player in the suit that brought down Biden's previous student debt forgiveness plans, separate to the SAVE plan, which were thwarted by the Supreme Court in June 2023.
Biden's latest debt relief plans are adapted from this. He said in February: "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,"
