Conservative Groups Take Aim at New Biden Student Loan Forgiveness Proposal

Two conservative groups are suing the U.S. Department of Education over President Joe Biden’s latest student loan debt forgiveness proposal, introduced following the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the administration’s first plan.

The complaint, filed Friday in Michigan by the Cato Institute and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, calls for the program to be halted until their is a decision on the case.

The new student loan debt forgiveness program forgives $39 billion of federal student loans for more than 804,000 borrowers whose payments weren’t properly counted in the past. 

The suit names Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and Richard Cordray, the head of the Federal Student Aid office.

"The One-Time Account Adjustment is substantively and procedurally unlawful,” the lawsuit alleges. “The Court should declare this forbearance-credit scheme unlawful, set it aside, and enjoin any cancellation of student loans based on it.” 

The Education Department said the suit is a “a desperate attempt from right wing special interests to keep hundreds of thousands of borrowers in debt.”

“We are not going to back down or give an inch when it comes to defending working families,” the department said in a statement.