(Headline USA) Federal judges in Kansas and Missouri on Monday blocked parts of a Biden administration student loan debt-transfer ploy that the Democrat president had hoped to use to staunch the loss of younger voters ahead of the November election.
BREAKING: The Court has granted our motion to BLOCK Joe Biden’s illegal student loan plan.
Congress never gave Biden the authority to saddle working Americans with half-a-trillion dollars in other people’s debt.
A huge win for the Constitution.
— Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@AGAndrewBailey) June 24, 2024
Biden had openly boasted about forging ahead with the plans without congressional approval, despite having has a prior proposal shut down by the U.S. Supreme Court last year—which contributed in part to the growing irritation that some younger voters have with the 81-year-old for making promises that he cannot keep.
The judges’ rulings said that the U.S. Department of Education cannot assume borrowers’ loan-repayment burdens going forward under a rule set to go into effect July 1. The decisions do not cancel assistance already provided to borrowers.
In Kansas, U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree ruled in a lawsuit filed by the state’s attorney general, Kris Kobach, on behalf of his state and 10 others.
In his ruling, Crabtree allowed parts of the program that allows students who borrowed $12,000 or less to have the rest of their loans forgiven if they make 10 years’ worth of payments, instead of the standard 25.
Crabtree’s ruling means that the Department of Education won’t be allowed to implement parts of the program meant to target students with larger loans who hoped to have their monthly payments lowered and their required payment period reduced from 25 years to 20 years.
In Missouri, U.S. District Judge John Ross’s order applies to different parts of the program than Crabtree’s. His order says that the U.S. Department of Education cannot forgive loan balances going forward.
Ross issued a ruling in a lawsuit filed by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey on behalf of his state and six others.
Together, the two rulings appeared to significantly limit the scope of the Biden administration’s efforts to help borrowers after the U.S. Supreme Court last year rejected the Democratic president’s first attempt at a forgiveness plan.
Both orders are preliminary, meaning the injunctions imposed by the judges would remain in effect through a trial of the separate lawsuits. However, to issue a temporary order each judge had to conclude that the states were likely to prevail in a trial.
Both judges were appointed by former President Barack Obama.
There was no immediate statement on the rulings from the White House.
Bailey hailed the ruling, calling it “a huge win for the rule of law, and for every American who Joe Biden was about to force to pay off someone else’s debt.”
Kobach also praised the decisions, framing the Biden plan as “unconstitutional” and an affront to “blue collar Kansas workers who didn’t go to college.”
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
