House Republicans File Amicus Brief in Biden Loan Forgiveness Case

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) at a House Education and Labor Committee hearing examining the policies and priorities of the Department of Labor on Tuesday, June 14, 2022.

 

Reps. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., and Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., are leading 126 House GOP colleagues in an amicus brief challenging President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness plan.

The brief, filed on Friday, also includes the signatures of Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La.; Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn.; and Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y.

It comes ahead of the Supreme Court's decision to hear a multistate lawsuit against the loan cancellation initiative later this month, which the Republican group contends has no legal basis.

Biden and his Department of Education have argued the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act grants them the ability to offer up to $10,000 in forgiveness for federal student loans for those making less than $125,000 per year.

In addition, the plan had offered up to $20,000 for those who received Pell Grants before both provisions were temporarily paused in November by an 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals injunction.

Foxx, Duncan, and the group of over 100 congressional Republicans have called their attempt a blatant abuse of the HEROES Act, which permits the federal government to forgive student loan debt in times of national emergency.

"The Biden administration's student loan bailout is a political gambit engineered by special interest groups; abusing the HEROES Act for such a ploy is shameful," Foxx said in a statement.

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"Congress is the only body with the authority to enact sweeping and fundamental changes of this nature, and it is ludicrous for President Biden to assume he can simply bypass the will of the American people," she added.

Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and South Carolina are leading the lawsuit against Biden's order carried out by the Department of Education. The six states have cited fears of losing tax revenue due to the plan as reason for challenging it.

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