(The Center Square) – An appeals court approved an injunction Thursday that stops President Joe Biden from implementing his latest student loan forgiveness plan.
Biden introduced the plan in April, months after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down another effort to forgive student loans. The plan would have exempted additional income from payment calculations and decreased the maximum percentage of discretionary income used to calculate monthly payments from 10% to 5%.
An independent analysis by the by the Penn Wharton Budget Model estimated the 10-year cost of the rule at $475 billion, according to court documents.
“In striking down that attempt, the Court declared that the President cannot ‘unilaterally alter large sections of the American economy,'” the lawsuit filed by attorneys general from seven states said. “Undeterred, the President is at it again, even bragging that ‘the Supreme Court blocked it. They blocked it. But that didn’t stop me.’”
Judge John A. Ross of the U.S. District Court Eastern Missouri Division issued a stay on parts of the rule last month. The appeals court’s ruling covers the entire rule.
“This is the latest blow to President Biden’s unlawful plans to cancel student loans without congressional approval,” Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said. “Our coalition won at the lower court last month, and we have continued to win in the Eighth Circuit. The President is disregarding the separation of powers in the Constitution and the fundamentals so clearly articulated in Schoolhouse Rock.”
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey called the ruling a “huge win for every American who still believes in paying their own way” in a social media post.
Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Oklahoma and North Dakota were also part of the suit.
The U.S. Department of Education did not immediately respond to a message from The Center Square.
By Kim Jarrett | The Center Square
