Oklahoma joins lawsuit over Biden student loan plan

(The Hill) -- Seven states announced Tuesday they were suing the Education Department over President Joe Biden's SAVE income-driven repayment student loan plan, adding to a previous lawsuit by numerous other states.  

The lawsuit is spearheaded by Missouri, along with six other states, who argue the SAVE plan is unconstitutional and cost taxpayers $475 billion.  

“With the stroke of his pen, Joe Biden is attempting to saddle working Missourians with a half trillion dollars in college debt," Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said. "The United States Constitution makes clear that the President lacks the authority to unilaterally ‘cancel’ student loan debt for millions of Americans without express permission from Congress." 

“The President does not get to thwart the Constitution when it suits his political agenda. I’m filing suit to halt his brazen attempt to curry favor with some citizens by forcing others to shoulder their debts," Bailey continued. "The Constitution will continue to mean something as long as I’m Attorney General."

The lawsuit includes Missouri, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Dakota, Ohio and Oklahoma. 

In the suit, the states argue this is equivalent to the student debt relief case the Supreme Court struck down last summer.  

“Just last year, the Supreme Court struck down an attempt by the President to force teachers, truckers, and farmers to pay for the student loan debt of other Americans — to the enormous tune of $430 billion," the lawsuit reads. "In striking down that attempt, the Court declared that the President cannot ‘unilaterally alter large sections of the American economy.’"

"Undeterred, the President is at it again, even bragging that ‘the Supreme Court blocked it. They blocked it. But that didn’t stop me,’” the states added.

This is the second big challenge to the SAVE plan led by Republican states. 

Kansas, along with 10 other states, filed a different case also arguing against the legality of the plan.  

“This is yet another attempt by Republican elected officials to prevent their own constituents from the student debt relief they earned and are entitled to,” a spokesperson for the Department of Education said after the Kansas lawsuit. 

The Hill has reached out to the Education Department for comment.  

Oklahoman residents owe a cumulative $15.4 billion in federal student loan debt as of December 2021.