Democratic coalition of attorneys general file amicus brief in two student loan debt cases

By Brent Addleman | The Center Square

Massachusetts is leading a coalition of 22 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief supporting the Biden administration’s student debt cancellation plan.

The Democratic law enforcement officials filed the legal document in response to a pair of lawsuits that seek to prevent the initiative from taking effect. The lawsuits, Biden v. Nebraska and Department of Education v. Brown, are being heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.

In the brief, the attorneys general say the president acted within his statutory authority. At stake is a student loan debt relief initiative that would provide relief to student loan borrowers who were directly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has caused immense financial harm to millions of families and borrowers,” Massachusetts’ acting Attorney General Bessie Dewar said in a release. “The Biden administration’s debt cancellation plan will help prevent student loan borrowers from needlessly suffering even more pandemic-related economic harm, including the devastating cascade of harms that follow from default. As state attorneys general, we are calling on the Supreme Court to uphold the secretary’s authority to provide much-needed relief to people across the country who have been affected by this unprecedented pandemic.”

In the brief, the attorneys general argue that U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona has authorization under the HEROES Act to offer a limited student debt cancellation that would prevent borrowers from experiencing hardships.

Massachusetts is joined in filing the brief by AGs representing California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Washington, D.C., Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

The student debt relief plan, announced last year, would allow for $10,000 in debt to be canceled under certain income thresholds and $20,000 to be erased for those who took out a student loan and also received a Pell Grant.

The federal government’s plan to provide student loan debt relief, according to the release, was to help borrowers who were directly affected by the pandemic to not face catastrophic defaults following a nearly three-year pause for loan repayment obligations.

According to the release, the coalition’s argument is that student loan debt relief is “an appropriate and necessary use” of the secretary of education’s authority under the HEROES Act. In addition, the Supreme Court is being asked by the federal government to lift injunctions that were granted by lower courts that have blocked the secretary from granting debt relief amid legal challenges.

The lawsuits against the debt cancellation plan, according to the release, were filed in September and November.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/CCV

3 thoughts on “Democratic coalition of attorneys general file amicus brief in two student loan debt cases

  1. There should never have been a pause in the repayment of student loans. Interest, I believe, kept adding up along with students continuing to borrow more. No reason to stop the repayment plan.

  2. 22 AG’s who love playing Robin Hood. There is absolutely no reason for taxpayers (remember on 43% of them actually paid any income taxes in 2020). This is criminal behavior on the part of our governments.

    If they really wanted to solve the problem, then they should turn their venom on the universities that HAVE UTTERLY FAILED to deliver the product that the borrowers thought they were paying for.

    To the 22 clowns: STOP LYING TO ME ! Leave my wallet alone. No sharing of the costs for me.

  3. The truth? There would be no need for a bailout, possibly up to $450 billion, of bad student loan debt….if the students and colleges graduated students with STEM, Business, Computer Science etc degrees…with plenty of jobs available to thus pay back debts….it is a safe bet that the students in default got conned & scammed by colleges, scamming the Federal Gov’t guarenteed loan program…so colleges pushed more & more “WOKE agenda” degrees, follow the free money :)……. offer Enviro, CRT, BLM, Climate Change, Diversity, Race, Gender, Equality, LGBTQ and Sex. ALL of those degrees pushed by the WOKE colleges are all but worthless in the real world……so now they need a bailout? STUDENTS are at fault for being stupid indoctrinated morons…and colleges at fault for pushing all these “phony-feel-good-$$$$-degrees”….all Progressive indulged JUNK . Since colleges are the ones selling this paper, IMO, they should also share the costs $$$$ of bailing out the costs for their worthless degrees.

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