SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – Attorney General Sean D. Reyes is co-leading a lawsuit in Kansas v. Biden over the President’s renewed attempts to unlawfully cancel student loan debts after a defeat at the Supreme Court of the United States on this very issue last summer. The challenge was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, asking the court to find that the U.S. Department of Education rule is unlawful.
The latest effort to cancel student debts without congressional authorization occurred in the days following a rebuke from the U.S. Supreme Court over the administration’s first attempt, which utilized a provision of the HEROES Act to justify this action. This new maneuver from the U.S. Department of Education featured the “SAVE Plan,” yet it based its cost estimate and other details on the first salvo being left intact by the nation’s high court. The administration has also tried to expedite certain portions of the student loan cancellation before federal courts could weigh in on the plan.
“This attempt by the Biden Administration at massive student loan forgiveness is a desperate and purely political election-year maneuver,” said General Reyes. “The last Biden loan forgiveness program was struck down as unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2023. Instead of accepting such a clear legal rebuke, the White House blithely ignores precedent and acts like this version is somehow different and less offensive. In fact, the current proposal is even more problematic because it relies on numbers and calculations from its first failed attempt that are invalid and unsustainable.”
In their complaint, the States argue that the action from the U.S. Department of Education violates separation of powers principles, exceeds the Department’s statutory authority and jurisdiction, constitutes arbitrary and capricious agency action, and violates APA procedures.”
