Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) filed a petition earlier this month asking the U.S. Supreme Court to halt President Biden’s student loan handout plan before cancelations are set to begin as soon as Sunday.
“If successful, WILL’s latest action, an emergency application for extraordinary writ of injunction, will temporarily halt the program while lower courts consider its legality,” a press release from the organization read Wednesday.
The release notes that WILL’s lawsuit is the “first and only” to reach the Supreme Court, filed under the argument of taxpayer standing, “an established legal doctrine allowing taxpayers to challenge unconstitutional government programs.”
Rick Esenberg, WILL’s president and general counsel, weighed in on the challenge to Biden’s controversial handout plan, reiterating claims that it is “unconstitutional” as the decision to halt or keep the plan in place remains in limbo.
Student loan borrowers stage a rally in front of The White House to celebrate President Biden cancelling student debt and to begin the fight to cancel any remaining debt on Aug. 25, 2022, in Washington, D.C.
(Paul Morigi/Getty Images for We the 45m)
“It is critical that the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in on the President’s unconstitutional student loan relief plan before Sunday, when the loan forgiveness could start,” he said.
“WILL is proud to represent American taxpayers, and to bring the first claim to be submitted to SCOTUS,” he added.
According to Wednesday’s press release, the organization’s lawsuit, originally filed on behalf of the Brown County Taxpayers Association on Oct. 4, has already faced challenges after being launched in a federal district court that dismissed the case Wisconsin.
It now remains on appeal at the seventh circuit.
FIRST LAWSUIT FILED TO BLOCK BIDEN’S STUDENT LOAN HANDOUT
President Biden announces student loan relief with Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Aug. 24, 2022, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, D.C.
(OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)
“WILL argues that the Biden Administration has no Congressional authorization to forgive loans. The HEROES Act only permits the Department of Education to waive student loan rules in a very limited way in response to national emergencies.
“The law was originally intended to help the men and women of the Armed Forces who may be put in jeopardy of defaulting on student loans because of their deployments. A nationwide, blanket student-loan forgiveness is a far cry from that mandate,” the press release stated.
Biden’s student loan handout faces other challenges from other organizations, including the national nonprofit Defense of Freedom Institute, who wrote a letter to U.S. Department of Education Inspector General Sandra Bruce Wednesday requesting the program be halted until necessary precautions are in place to prevent waste, fraud and abuse.
“The Biden administration’s recently announced student loan debt cancellation policy lacks basic safeguards against waste, fraud, and abuse,” the letter read.
The Supreme Court in Washington, D.C.
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
The organization compared the waste and fraud potential for those using “self-certification” to the fraud witnessed while the government doled out COVID-19 relief.
Critics, including WILL, continue to roast the costly handout plan for allegedly wasting taxpayer dollars while challenging constitutional authority.
WILL argued Wednesday that measures to halt the handout should begin before the cancelations begin Sunday so taxpayers can avoid incurring devastating costs.
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“Once a loan is canceled or forgiven, it is unlikely to be undone,” they wrote.
The organization cited the University of Pennsylvania’s estimate that the handout program could total over $1 trillion.
