The Left is grasping at straws. And the few they have are being snatched away from them.
Now a landmark court decision put a nail in the coffin to this Democrat scheme.
Federal Appeals Court Shuts Down Biden’s $475 Billion Student Loan Forgiveness Scheme
A federal appeals court has dealt a devastating blow to Joe Biden’s massive student loan forgiveness scheme, ruling Tuesday that the entire $475 billion program must be blocked.
The Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had previously halted parts of the program, but this latest ruling from a three-judge panel at the St. Louis-based court finalizes the decision, prohibiting any part of Biden’s initiative from taking effect.
Court: Biden’s Education Secretary “Went Well Beyond” His Authority
In a 25-page opinion, Judge L. Steven Grasz made it clear that Biden’s Education Secretary, Miguel Cardona, had massively overstepped his constitutional authority in rolling out the so-called Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan.
“Rather than implying by omission or other ambiguities, Congress has spoken clearly when creating a repayment plan with loan forgiveness or otherwise authorizing it — explicitly stating the Secretary should cancel, discharge, repay, or assume the remaining unpaid balance,” Grasz wrote, pointing out that there was “no comparable language” in the SAVE plan.
In 2023, the Penn Wharton Budget Model estimated that the plan — designed to wipe out student debt rather than actually repay it — would cost taxpayers a staggering $475 billion over the next decade.
Republican Attorneys General Shut Down Biden’s Vote-Buying Scheme
Republican attorneys general from Missouri, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Dakota, Ohio, and Oklahoma filed the lawsuit against Biden and Cardona last year, challenging the program after securing a partial injunction.
By the time the courts intervened, Biden’s Education Department had already funneled $1.2 billion to borrowers through the program, which officially launched in February 2024. In total, around 7.5 million Americans had signed up for the scheme.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey celebrated the ruling, posting on X:
“We obtained another court order BLOCKING an illegal Biden-era student loan scheme. Though @JoeBiden is out of office, this precedent is imperative to ensuring a President cannot force working Americans to foot the bill for someone else’s Ivy League debt.”
The Biden administration ultimately canceled approximately $183.6 billion in student loans — mostly benefiting college-educated voters Biden desperately needed in the 2024 election.
Biden’s Debt Transfer Plan Slammed as ‘Abuse of Power’
Critics of Biden’s student loan schemes — including his previous $430 billion forgiveness plan that the Supreme Court struck down in June 2023 — accused him of attempting to buy votes ahead of the election.
“He isn’t ‘forgiving’ debt. He is taking the debt from those who willingly took it out to go to college and transferring it onto taxpayers who decided not to go to college or already paid off their loans,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said last year.
“This is an abuse of power before an election in an attempt to buy votes at the expense of American taxpayers,” added Cassidy, now chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
The SAVE plan was designed as an income-based repayment program, cutting monthly payments in half and eliminating payments entirely for minimum-wage earners. It also attempted to erase debt for borrowers who owed $12,000 or less after making payments for 10 years.
Republican state attorneys general successfully sued Biden’s Education Department again just weeks before the election, halting another $147 billion in student loan cancellations.
Biden’s Legal Justification Rejected Again
Biden’s legal argument for student loan cancellation relied on decades-old statutes, including a 2003 law meant to assist Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. His administration stretched its interpretation to justify wiping out debt for borrowers claiming financial hardship from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Supreme Court wasn’t buying it. Chief Justice John Roberts, in his majority opinion striking down Biden’s first $430 billion scheme, noted that an education secretary “has never previously claimed powers of this magnitude.”
Judge Grasz echoed that sentiment in striking down Biden’s latest $475 billion plan.
“As with the previous attempt at loan forgiveness, the major questions doctrine informs our analysis,” he wrote. “We assume Congress would have provided clear signs if it authorized such significant power to the Secretary. It did not.”
The case was heard by Grasz, a Trump appointee, along with Judge Ralph Erickson, also appointed by Trump, and Judge Raymond Gruender, a George W. Bush appointee.
What’s Next? Trump’s Education Department Weighs Its Options
With Biden’s student loan schemes facing legal ruin, the future of the SAVE plan is now in Trump’s hands. The lawsuit now lists President Trump and Acting Education Secretary Denise Carter as defendants, replacing Biden and Cardona.
Trump has already signaled he wants to dismantle the Education Department entirely, with Education Secretary-designate Linda McMahon expected to oversee the return of its functions to individual states.
For taxpayers and responsible borrowers, the era of reckless student debt bailouts may finally be coming to an end.
