Washington, D.C. Oct. 25, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The New Civil Liberties Alliance, a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group, has filed a motion amicus curiae meager in the lawsuit brought by six states — Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas and South Carolina — to block the illegality of the Biden administration Student Loan Debt Repayment Plan. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has stayed the executive action while it reviews the states’ emergency request. The NCLA is urging the Eighth Circuit to halt the debt relief plan while it considers states’ arguments on appeal because the plan is so patently unconstitutional. In particular, the U.S. Department of Education’s reliance on the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students (HEROES) Act of 2003 amending legislation to eliminate hundreds of billions of dollars owed to the Treasury Department violates both the vesting and appropriation laws. clause of the constitution.
The Department of Education program is legislative in nature as it amends laws duly passed by Congress. It is also an allocation of funds, as each amount of debt forgiven directly reduces funds that would otherwise go to the Treasury. The HEROES Act would undoubtedly be unconstitutional if it empowered an executive body like the Department of Education to change laws and agents. However, this is essentially what the Biden administration is (mis)interpreting this law. In short, the Department of Education is relying on an unconstitutional interpretation of the HEROES Act to justify its illegal mass debt forgiveness.
Without an injunction, the plaintiff states would also suffer concrete and irreparable damage. In addition to the violations set forth in the request for an injunction, the student loan debt service plan further hurts states by removing incentives enacted by Congress under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF) for student loan borrowers. ..
