Federal judge delivers another blow to Biden’s student loan handout plan: ‘Good cause exists’

A federal judge on Thursday extended a temporary restraining order barring the Harris-Biden administration from canceling billions of dollars in student loans. 

US District Judge Randal Hall ruled that “good cause exists” to extend his Sept. 5 restraining order that blocked the Department of Education’s $147 billion cancellation effort for an additional 14 days. 

“The extension will allow the Court to appropriately review and assess the Parties’ submitted briefs and argument offered during the September 18, 2024 hearing and to issue an Order addressing the pending motions,” Hall wrote.

Republican attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, North Dakota and Ohio sued President Biden and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona earlier this month, arguing that the debt forgiveness plan would “unlawfully” cancel $73 billion in federally-held student loans “overnight.”

The plaintiffs are seeking a preliminary injunction against the plan while the Harris-Biden administration has asked Hall to dismiss the lawsuit.

The Harris-Biden administration’s plan would “forgive interest for millions of borrowers up to $20,000” — including those with household incomes over $240,000 — and wipe the balances for undergraduate student borrowers who have been paying their loans for 20 years and graduate students who have been making payments for 25 years.

It would also cancel debt for students from institutions that once were but are now no longer part of any federal grant and loan programs — or non-degree programs and institutions that were determined by the Education Department to not provide financial value to students.

The pause extension is the latest in a series of setbacks to President Biden’s efforts at canceling student loan debt. 

In June, federal judges in Kansas and Missouri issued nationwide preliminary injunctions preventing the Harris-Biden administration from canceling any more federal student debt for borrowers enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan, which has an estimated $475 billion price tag. 

The Supreme Court opted against lifting the injunction last month. 

Last summer, the high court struck down a prior attempt by Biden to forgive $400 billion in federal student loan debt.