PENNY PINCHERS

6 GOP States Sue Biden Over Student Loan Forgiveness Program

Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina claim the president overstepped his executive privileges when he forgave $10,000 per borrower.

President Joe Biden’s historic student loan forgiveness program faces another legal challenge—a lawsuit jointly filed Thursday by six Republican-led states that claim Biden overstepped his executive privileges when he followed through on one of his campaign promises by granting loan forgiveness to millions of Americans. The suit was filed by officials from Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina. “The Department of Education is required, under the law, to collect the balance due on loans,” Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge told the Associated Press. “And President Biden does not have the authority to override that.” Biden used a 2001 law that grants him the ability to forgive student loans during a national emergency to push forward the plan that aims to relieve $10,000 of debt per borrower, or $20,000 for low-income Pell Grant recipients. But Republican critics argue that the justification is no longer valid, as Biden declared the coronavirus pandemic over earlier this month in a 60 Minutes interview.