BUZZ
The Department of Education moved to restore the rule of law recently, entering a settlement with Missouri to end President Joe Biden’s illegal student loan bailout plan.
Under Biden, the Dept. of Ed. unilaterally created the “Saving on a Valuable Education Plan,” which faced legal challenges from the state of Missouri. The former president did this despite any law allowing him to do so, as noted by in a news release from the department.
Multiple courts ruled against the plan, which effectively died in February when the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against it and sent it back to a district court for reconsideration. Since Trump took office, it was clear his administration would not defend the illegal plan.
“Without congressional authorization, the Biden Administration misled millions of borrowers into the illegal SAVE Plan with false promises of artificially low monthly payments – oftentimes as low as $0 – and a short timeline to student loan ‘forgiveness,'” according to a news release. “The SAVE Plan would have cost taxpayers, many of whom did not attend college or already repaid their student loans, more than $342 billion over ten years.”
The settlement, if approved by a court, would effectively end the program. Current participants would have an opportunity to apply for other legal payment plan options.
Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent commented further on the development.
“For four years, the Biden Administration sought to unlawfully shift student loan debt onto American taxpayers, many of whom either never took out a loan to finance their postsecondary education or never even went to college themselves, simply for a political win to prop up a failing Administration,” Kent stated in a news release.
Kent called the plan “deceptive scheme” and said the law requires the repayment of loans.
“Thanks to the State of Missouri and other states fighting against this egregious federal overreach, American taxpayers can now rest assured they will no longer be forced to serve as collateral for illegal and irresponsible student loan policies,” Kent said.
Even as the plan faced legal challenges, the Biden administration continued to push through other bailout options.
In the last days of his administration, the president withdrew a $600 billion bailout plan from regulations so that President Trump could not rewrite them in a way more favorable to the incoming president’s views.
The plan allowed for a broad “hardship” exemption, which faced criticism from both left-leaning and right-leaning student loan experts, as The College Fix reported.
