Missouri AG Files Lawsuit Against President Biden, Department of Education’s SAVE Plan

Posted April 11, 2024

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, joined by attorneys general from six other states, has filed a lawsuit against President Biden and the U.S. Department of Education, challenging the administration’s student loan forgiveness plan.

Bailey, a Republican, on Tuesday, filed a 62-page lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. Attorneys general from Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Dakota, Ohio and Oklahoma joined Bailey in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit targets the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan, a repayment plan that approved $1.2 billion in student debt cancellations for nearly 153,000 borrowers. The plan officially launched in August 2023.

“With the stroke of his pen, Joe Biden is attempting to saddle working Missourians with a half trillion dollars in college debt. The United States Constitution makes clear that the President lacks the authority to unilaterally ‘cancel’ student loan debt for millions of Americans without express permission from Congress,” Bailey said in a release Tuesday. “The President does not get to thwart the Constitution when it suits his political agenda. I’m filing suit to halt his brazen attempt to curry favor with some citizens by forcing others to shoulder their debts. The Constitution will continue to mean something as long as I’m Attorney General.”

In July, the SAVE Plan will cut undergraduate loan payments in half and will cap the borrower’s loan payments at 5 percent of their discretionary income. To date, the plan enrolls 7.5 million borrowers and 4.3 million borrowers have a $0 monthly payment, according to the Department of Education.

Last month, a similar lawsuit was filed against Biden and the U.S. Department of Education by Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, a Republican, in collaboration with 10 other state attorneys general.