Judges under Barack Obama overturn Joe Biden’s student debt relief

Two judges appointed by Barack Obama have partially blocked some of Joe Biden’s plans to forgive student loans.

Federal judges in Kansas and Missouri on Monday halted parts of the Biden-Harris administration’s Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) program, which offers a faster path to student loan forgiveness and lower monthly repayments for borrowers. The program has faced two separate legal challenges in Republican-led states that argue the president exceeded his authority by failing to seek input from Congress in implementing his debt-forgiveness plans.

In Kansas, U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree, nominated by Obama and confirmed in May 2014, ruled in a lawsuit filed by the state’s attorney general that the Department of Education could not implement parts of the program designed to help students with larger loans by reducing monthly payments and shortening the repayment period from 25 to 20 years.

He approved parts of the program that allow students who borrowed less than $12,000 to have their remaining loans forgiven after a repayment period of 10 years instead of the usual 25.

Crabtree’s decision comes just weeks after he ruled that eight of the 11 states involved in the litigation did not adequately demonstrate how they would be harmed by implementing the SAVE plan. He concluded that only Alaska, Texas and South Carolina made a compelling enough case that any part of the SAVE plan could potentially harm state tax revenues, and rejected the arguments of Kansas, Idaho, Alabama, Louisiana, Montana, Utah, Nebraska and Idaho.

Newsweek Crabtree emailed outside of normal business hours seeking comment.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge John Ross of Missouri ruled that the Energy Department could not forgive loan balances going forward, but said the department could reduce monthly payments. He said the Energy Department lacked the necessary congressional authority to forgive loans under the SAVE plan.

Ross’ ruling relates to a lawsuit filed by the state’s Attorney General, Andrew Bailey, on behalf of Missouri and six other states: Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Dakota, Ohio and Oklahoma. Ross was nominated by Obama in 2010 and confirmed in 2011.

The federal injunctions mean that borrowers participating in the SAVE plan cannot have their federal student loans forgiven while the litigation is ongoing. Debt forgiveness that has already been granted will not be affected.

“Only Congress has power over the Treasury, not the president,” Bailey said. “Today’s ruling was a major victory for the rule of law and for every American that Joe Biden sought to force to pay off the debts of others.”

“Today’s victory in Kansas is a victory for the entire country,” said Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach. “As the court rightly ruled, whether billions of dollars in student debt will be forgiven is an important question that only Congress can answer. Biden’s administration is trying to usurp Congress’ authority.”

“This is not only unconstitutional, it’s unfair,” he added. “Workers in Kansas who didn’t go to college shouldn’t have to pay back the student loans of New Yorkers with degrees in gender studies.”

In a statement NewsweekWhite House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the Biden administration is fighting to “fix the broken student loan system and ensure borrowers are not burdened with unmanageable student loan debt.”

“We strongly disagree with today’s decisions on our SAVE Plan, and the Department of Justice will continue to vigorously defend the SAVE Plan,” she said. “President Biden and his administration will continue to build on the progress made through various actions in wiping out debt for over 4.75 million Americans, and we will never stop fighting for students and borrowers – no matter how many obstacles Republican officials and special interests throw in our way.”