Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced a significant legal victory after obtaining a temporary restraining order blocking the Biden-Harris Administration’s latest student loan cancellation initiative. The restraining order was granted just two days after Bailey’s office filed a lawsuit challenging the unpublished rule.
“Today is a huge victory for every working American who won’t have to foot the bill for someone else’s Ivy League debt,” said Attorney General Bailey. “I paid for my education in blood, sweat, and tears in service to my country, so this fight is personal for me. We will continue to lead the way for working Americans who are being preyed upon by unelected federal bureaucrats in Washington D.C.”
The lawsuit argues that the U.S. Secretary of Education is unlawfully attempting to cancel hundreds of billions of dollars in student loans without proper publication or transparency. The suit claims that the Education Secretary instructed federal contractors to begin mass cancellation of loans as early as Sept. 3, 2024.
The lawsuit also cites the estimated cost of the Third Mass Cancellation Rule at $146.9 billion, with additional costs stemming from the $475 billion SAVE Plan. According to the states, this is the third attempt by the Biden Administration to implement large-scale student loan cancellations, despite previous court rulings deeming such actions unconstitutional.
Attorney General Bailey has previously led successful legal challenges against similar student loan forgiveness schemes. The United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of Bailey’s earlier lawsuits, which sought to block the Biden Administration’s attempts to forgive large amounts of student debt.
In this latest legal challenge, Missouri is joined by attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Dakota, and Ohio.
The court order can be viewed here.
The original lawsuit can be viewed here.
