Americans for Prosperity Foundation Urges 8th Circuit to Halt Unconstitutional Administrative Student Loan Forgiveness

Oct 21, 2022 by Bill Riggs

Student loan forgiveness will do nothing to address the cause of the student debt crisis and only push already-skyrocketing higher education costs even higher.

Arlington, Va. — Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFPF) filed an amicus brief with the 8^th Circuit today arguing the Biden Administration overstepped its constitutional authority when it decided to spend more than $400 billion in taxpayer funds without congressional approval.

The administration’s politically motivated action will force the two-thirds of Americans who don’t have college degrees to pay off hundreds of billions in outstanding debt accrued by a small portion of the population. Student loan forgiveness will do nothing to address the cause of the student debt crisis and only push already-skyrocketing higher education costs even higher.

AFPF Vice President Casey Mattox issued the following statement:

“Our amicus brief highlights the critical separation of powers issues that underlie this case and the importance of meaningful enforcement of those constitutional principles to protecting liberty and promoting government accountability. As the Supreme Court ruled in West Virginia v. EPA, major questions should be decided by Congress, not unelected bureaucrats, and that principle should apply here.”

The case is Nebraska v. Biden

Click here to view the amicus brief

As the brief states:

The wisdom and fairness of granting blanket student loan cancellation to tens of millions of borrowers at a cost of hundreds of billions of dollars is not before the Court. Instead, this case is about who the Constitution empowers to make that decision—one of vast political and economic importance—and by what process. At the federal level, the answer is Congress, through duly enacted legislation, subject to constitutional constraints on federal power.

Our system of government relies on the consent of the governed, memorialized in the Constitution. Our Constitution exclusively tasks the People’s elected representatives with answering major policy questions through duly enacted legislation that survives bicameralism and presentment, a deliberately difficult process designed to ensure such laws reflect broad political consensus.

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At a minimum, this Court should put the unlawful student loan cancelation on hold and carefully consider the parties’ arguments on the merits.

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