DOJ appeals as Trump judge blocks student debt cancellation with ‘farcical’ ruling

The Justice Department filed an appeal Thursday after a Trump-appointed federal judge in Texas blocked the Biden administration’s student debt cancellation program nationwide, declaring it “unlawful” on grounds that legal experts criticized as laughable.

The 26-page ruling by Mark Pittman of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas finds that the two plaintiffs who brought the case with the backing of the Job Creators Network Foundation—an affiliate of a right-wing, billionaire-funded business trade group—have standing to sue over the debt cancellation program because the Biden administration didn’t allow a public comment period before moving ahead with the plan.

A public comment period is not required under the legal authority the Biden administration used to justify the cancellation of $10,000 to $20,000 in federal student loan debt for most borrowers, but Pittman noted that the plaintiffs dispute that legal authority.

“Because the court must ‘assume, for purposes of the standing analysis, that [plaintiffs are] correct on the merits of [their] claim that the [program] was promulgated in violation of the [Administrative Procedure Act],’ plaintiffs have successfully alleged the deprivation of a procedural right,” wrote Pittman, a founding member of the Tarrant County Federalist Society.

Neither Myra Brown nor Alexander Taylor, the two plaintiffs in the case, are eligible for full student debt relief under the Biden administration’s plan—Brown has commercial loans and Taylor did not receive a Pell Grant. The Intercept reported earlier this week that Brown “has herself been a beneficiary of debt cancellation, in the form of a Paycheck Protection Program business loan worth over twice the maximum amount covered under Biden’s program.”

Pittman’s reasoning conflicts with rulings in previous cases in which judges—including one appointed by George W. Bush—dismissed lawsuits against the debt cancellation plan over plaintiffs’ failure to demonstrate standing, which requires them to prove direct injury or harm.

Shortly after Pittman handed down his ruling, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that “we strongly disagree with the District Court’s ruling on our student debt relief program and the Department of Justice has filed an appeal.”

“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,” said Jean-Pierre.

“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.

Pittman’s decision came weeks after the conservative-dominated Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a one-page order pausing the debt cancellation program in response to a challenge brought by Republican attorneys general, leaving millions of borrowers in limbo.

Originally published at Commondreams.org.