Texan Federal Judge strikes down President Biden’s student debt program as ‘unlawful’

On Thursday, a federal judge in Texas struck down President Biden’s student debt relief program.

Trump-appointed District Judge Mark Pittman referred to the program as an “unconstitutional exercise of Congress’s legislative power.”

Biden’s plan would have forgiven up to $20,000 in student debt for Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 for individual borrowers who earn less than $125,000 per year. Some estimates say that the plan would have cost upwards of $400 billion.

Judge Pittman declared the program illegal after the Job Creators Network Foundation filed a lawsuit last month arguing that the Biden administration violated federal procedures.

The president of the foundation, Elaine Parker, praised the ruling in a statement, saying: “The court has correctly ruled in favor of our motion and deemed the Biden student loan program illegal.”

The Biden administration plans to appeal the ruling.

“We strongly disagree with the District Court’s ruling on our student debt relief program,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

“For the 26 million borrowers who have already given the Department of Education the necessary information to be considered for debt relief — 16 million of whom have already been approved for relief — the Department will hold onto their information so it can quickly process their relief once we prevail in court.”

She added, “The President and this Administration are determined to help working and middle-class Americans get back on their feet, while our opponents – backed by extreme Republican special interests — sued to block millions of Americans from getting much-needed relief.”