Kansas and Missouri courts temporarily halting Biden from canceling student debt sparks debate online

WASHINGTON, DC: Two federal judges in Kansas and Missouri temporarily blocked President Joe Biden's new student loan repayment plan on Monday, June 24, in response to a lawsuit from the Republican states.

US District Judges Daniel Crabtree in Kansas and John Ross in Missouri halted the Biden administration from allowing further loan forgiveness to those registered in the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan, the New York Post.

Borrowers enrolled in the SAVE program would have to continue their payment, but the undergraduate debt repayments won't be cut in half from July 1.

US District Judge John A Ross of Missouri wrote in his ruling that the Biden administration was "preliminarily enjoined from any further loan forgiveness for borrowers under the Final Rule's SAVE plan until such time as this Court can decide the case on the merits," as per NBC News.

A look into Joe Biden admin's SAVE plan

Launched in August 2023, the SAVE plan was described as the "most affordable student loan repayment plan" by the White House. It was implemented in response to the Supreme Court's rejection of a wider initiative to forgive debt under the current administration's pandemic-era relief plan, which sought to eliminate up to $20,000 in federal student debt for approximately 43 million borrowers.

The SAVE plan, an income-driven repayment scheme, determined the payment based on the borrower's income and family size rather than their loan amount. In addition, it forgave the remaining balances after a specified number of years.

The plan aimed to cut undergraduate loan payments in half, bring monthly payments for minimum wage earners to $0 and stop charging monthly interest. Moreover, borrowers whose principal balance was $12,000 or less would receive early forgiveness after 120 payments.

The Biden-endorsed SAVE plan was expected to incur a cost of $475 billion for US taxpayers over the next decade.

Kansas and Missouri AGs court ruling that halted SAVE plan

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey and Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, both Republicans, succeeded in their argument that Biden overstepped his power to implement the SAVE plan by bypassing Congress.

"Kansas’s victory today is a victory for the entire country," Kobach said after the ruling, adding the Biden administration was trying "to usurp Congress’s authority" with the plan.

Bailey echoed his Kansas counterpart's opinion, stating, "Congress never gave Biden the authority to saddle working Americans with half-a-trillion dollars in other people’s debt."

However, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre disagreed with the new ruling by two federal courts and declared the Justice Department would defend the plan. She added that it "won't stop our Administration from using every tool available to give students and borrowers the relief they need."

Last year, the Supreme Court rejected Biden's plan to erase $400 billion in debt from federal student loans.

Internet in splits as two courts temporarily block Biden's student loan plan

While a group of netizens deemed the court's move "nonsense," another bunch welcomed it, claiming it ended Biden's vote pandering.

"Yes, it's insane nonsense," a user wrote. While another remarked, "Can you imaging the anger this will create among those who have already received loan repayments? When the Biden Administration sends out follow-up letters stating that they really owe that amount they previously forgave? Now that’s going to make for some real happy voters."

A third user added, "Biden keeps trying to help our students and graduated students but it seems Red States like to keep people enslaved to maximum debt."

Whereas a fourth response read, "Working class Americans resent being forced to pay off the debts of deadbeat college graduates."

"What business was it of state judges? As President, Biden made a decision to help students. These 2 states don’t give a CRAP about helping THEIR students!!! Disgraceful…" someone else chimed in.

An individual said, "Biden's vote buying stopped...for now."

Another user wrote, "Republicans sued to stop the SAVE program which still literally makes you pay your loans just at a lower monthly rate. they dont even want us to pay the loans back they just want us to suffer."

On the other hand, one remark read, "As they should. SCOTUS already said this was unconstitutional."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.