30 Million Student Borrowers Waiting for Broader Debt Cancellation from Biden Just Got a Lifeline in Court

• A federal judge in Georgia refused to block Biden’s second attempt at broader debt relief.

• Instead, the judge ordered the case moved to federal court in Missouri.

• This could provide a lifeline for 30 million borrowers waiting for student loan forgiveness.

Millions of student loan borrowers waiting for debt relief may have just been offered a lifeline.

Georgia federal judge Randal Hall on Wednesday refused to block President Joe Biden’s plan to cancel student debt under the Higher Education Act of 1965, in response to a lawsuit filed by a group of attorneys general Republican Party states that sought to stop the implementation of the relief.

Instead, Hall ruled that Georgia was not the proper venue to file a lawsuit — and he is moving the case to the Eastern Federal District of Missouri. The Missouri Attorney General was among the plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit, and the case claimed that student loan company MOHELA – which is overseen by the Missouri state government – ​​would suffer a loss of revenue if any form of debt relief.

The Supreme Court previously struck down Biden’s first attempt at broad debt relief after finding that Missouri had standing to sue given the harm MOHELA would suffer, and Hall said in his ruling that the situation is the same with Biden’s second attempt: the States have “a clear right”. ” given MOHELA’s potential injuries, and the case is best suited to be handled in Missouri.

“The Court finds that transfer is in the interests of justice, rather than dismissal, because, based on the Supreme Court’s ruling in Biden, a single plaintiff with standing is sufficient to for action to continue,” Hall said.

A Department of Education spokesperson told Business Insider in a statement that “while we appreciate the district court’s recognition that this case has no legal basis to be brought in Georgia, it does not Nonetheless, this lawsuit reflects an ongoing effort by elected Republicans who want to prevent millions of their own constituents from having room to maneuver on their student loans.

So far, there has been a temporary restraining order on the remedy – meaning the ministry has been unable to move forward with implementation – and it is unclear whether the transfer of the case would allow us to move forward.

Still, some advocates hailed the move as a victory for borrowers. Persis Yu, deputy executive director and legal counsel for the Student Borrower Protection Center, said in a statement that Hall’s decision is “a small victory for democracy.”

“The decision to bring this case before the Brunswick Division of the Southern District of Georgia – a carefully chosen court with a single Republican-appointed judge – was a clear and desperate move aimed at undermining democracy and stacking the odds in its favor against working families,” she said. .

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