Bypassing Missouri Federal Courts, the Missouri AG Manipulates the Justice System to Protect MOHELA’s Profits
September 5, 2024 | WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Republican-appointed federal judge in Georgia issued a dangerous and unprecedented court order blocking a federal student debt relief rule that was proposed earlier this year and has yet to be finalized. The order temporarily halts the Biden-Harris Administration from cancelling student debt under a possible future plan.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who led the suit, opted to bypass Missouri courts and instead file the lawsuit in the Southern District of Georgia, Brunswick Division, where only a single Republican-appointed judge presides. It claims standing based upon harm to the federal student loan servicer and lender, MOHELA.
Federal judges are required to identify a “final agency action” to trigger judicial review—conditions that are absent in this case. Instead, Judge James Randal Hall granted a motion by a coalition of right-wing state attorneys general to immediately block the Biden-Harris Administration from working to implement relief under a possible future final rule.
In response, AFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement:
“The court is substituting its judgment for those elected to serve the public. The forum shopping by the Missouri Attorney General, and the rewriting of federal law and practice by this judge, turns the rule of law on its head. It subverts the democratic process and denies relief to student loan borrowers, many of whom rely on debt relief programs already advanced by the Biden-Harris Administration. This court’s unprecedented decision to block a rule that does not yet exist is not only bad for the 30 million borrowers who were relying on the Administration to deliver much-needed relief. It’s a harbinger of the chaos and corruption right-wing judges seek to force on the American people.
“The Biden-Harris Administration has fought to protect working people with student debt and our democracy since Day One. We are proud to stand with them as they confront this threat and work to continue to uphold borrowers’ rights.”
In response, Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC) executive director Mike Pierce issued the following statement:
“Today, a right-wing judge in Georgia took the unprecedented step of blocking the Biden-Harris Administration from implementing any plan to deliver mass student debt relief—even though no plan has been finalized. This is an extraordinary break with precedent and a brazen move by the conservative movement to shift even more power to unelected, unaccountable red-state judges.
“Opponents of democracy are terrified that they will lose again at the ballot box in November and are rushing to right-wing judges to hamstring democratic governance. This is the clearest sign yet that Project 2025 is already terrorizing student loan borrowers through a slow-moving judicial coup.”
The student debt relief proposals in question are not yet finalized but aim to help borrowers who have been unable to access existing relief programs and have been trapped in unaffordable debt as a result. When implemented, the package would provide relief for over 30 million Americans and make 4 million additional people student debt-free.
Earlier this summer, the 8th Circuit issued an order temporarily blocking—in its entirety—a different debt relief program, Biden-Harris Administration’s SAVE Plan. The order also blocked aspects of other long-standing Income-Driven Repayment plans on which millions of borrowers rely. Today’s radical judicial action builds on an earlier order by a federal judge in the Eastern District of Missouri that temporarily blocked all debt cancellation under the SAVE plan.
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About the AFT
The AFT represents 1.8 million pre-K through 12th-grade teachers; paraprofessionals and other school-related personnel; higher education faculty and professional staff; federal, state and local government employees; nurses and healthcare workers; and early childhood educators.
Learn more at aft.org or follow AFT on Twitter @AFTunion.
About Student Borrower Protection Center
Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC) is a nonprofit organization focused on eliminating the burden of student debt for millions of Americans. We engage in advocacy, policymaking, and litigation strategy to rein in industry abuses, protect borrowers’ rights, and advance racial and economic justice.
Learn more at protectborrowers.org or follow SBPC on Twitter @theSBPC.