Republican States' Lawsuit vs Biden Student Debt Relief Plan Dismissed by Judge

When President Joe Biden announced his plans to forgive student loan debts, several Republican states, including Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, and South Carolina, filed a lawsuit to challenge it. However, a federal judge rejected that lawsuit, which means Biden's student debt relief program can continue.

According to CNN, US District Judge Henry Edward Autrey stated in his ruling on Thursday that he was dismissing the case because the states had not overcome the procedural threshold known as standing. This requires plaintiffs to show that a policy is causing them direct and traceable harm.

As we previously reported, the Biden administration plans to cancel up to $10,000 in federal student loan debt for most borrowers and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients.

Republican States Likely to Appeal Case

The Republican-led states argued that the Biden administration does not have the legal authority to grant such broad student loan forgiveness and that this program would hurt the states financially.

However, government lawyers argued that Congress gave the education secretary the power to discharge debt under HEROES Act of 2003. They also argued that the states did not have standing to ask for an injunction.

In his ruling, Judge Autry also stated that many of those harms were "merely speculative" and not imminent at the very least.

The Republican challenge was seen by experts as the most "serious and credible." However, Politico noted that the six Republican states would likely appeal that decision.

It was noted that the ruling was "a vindication of the Biden administration's legal strategy" and a big victory for the administration.

Supreme Court Rejects Wisconsin Group's Request to Block Biden's Student Loan Forgiveness Program

The Biden plan was not only challenged by the six GOP-led states, but also other groups, including a Wisconsin taxpayers' group that filed an emergency application to block the program. However, this move was denied by the Supreme Court itself.

According to CNBC, the one who denied this motion was Trump-appointed conservative justice Amy Coney Barrett. She is responsible for applications for cases filed in the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which includes Wisconsin, where the application was filed.

Brown County Taxpayers Association in Wisconsin were responsible for filing that application, as they filed a federal lawsuit in that state. A U.S. District Court judge dismissed the suit, saying that they lacked legal standing to stall the plan.

The group then appealed it in the 7th Circuit, which then led to them asking Justice Barrett to suspend its implementation. However, the conservative judge disagreed with them, dismissing their request completely.

The group admitted that they are disappointed with the ruling, but still argued that the program is unlawful.

U.S. Department of Education launched a beta test of the program, with over 8 million people already submitting applications for the program as of last weekend.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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