Judge dismisses GOP states' challenge to Biden student debt relief program
A federal district court judge rejected a lawsuit brought by six Republican-led states challenging President Joe Biden's student debt relief program.
Posted — UpdatedUS District Judge Henry Edward Autrey said Thursday he was dismissing the case because the states had not overcome the procedural threshold known as standing, which requires that plaintiffs show that a policy is causing them direct and traceable harm.
The states are expected to appeal the judge's ruling, sending the case to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, where it is likely to face a panel of conservative judges.
The lawsuit was filed in a federal court in Missouri last month by state attorneys general from Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska and South Carolina, as well as legal representatives from Iowa.
Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett rejected a separate challenge to the Biden administration's student loan forgiveness program on Thursday, declining to take up an appeal brought by a Wisconsin taxpayers group.
Student loan cancellations, worth up to $20,000 per eligible borrower, could begin on Sunday.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
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