that the relief is an"utter disregard for federal law and the Constitution," and they sued the department in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, asking the court to set the relief aside.
The same groups also challenged Biden's broad plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for federal borrowers,"Despite its massive expense and impact on the legal rights and obligations of millions of borrowers, the Department did not promulgate this policy through mandatory notice-and-comment and negotiated rulemaking procedures," the groups said in their complaint.
The complaint added that the relief would harm the groups' recruiting efforts because it would make the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program — which forgives student debt for government and nonprofit workers after ten years of qualifying payments — less impactful for job candidates.
An Education Department spokesperson said that"this lawsuit is nothing but a desperate attempt from right wing special interests to keep hundreds of thousands of borrowers in debt, even though these borrowers have earned the forgiveness that is promised through income-driven repayment plans. We are not going to back down or give an inch when it comes to defending working families."
The department has also already begun notifying borrowers who qualify to have their loans forgiven. This comes right before borrowers are set to resume payments again in October after an over three-year pause on payments — and the department said it was working to get relief to those eligible through the IDR before payments resume. It's unclear at this point how this lawsuit will impact that timeline.