Cases
Mackinac Center for Public Policy and Cato Institute v. Cardona
CASE SUMMARY
On behalf of the Cato Institute and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, NCLA filed a lawsuit to stop President Biden’s utter disregard for federal law and the Constitution. Moving on an accelerated schedule to deter court review, the Department of Education announced its unlawful new scheme before the ink was dry on the Supreme Court opinion striking down its old $430 billion student loan debt cancellation plan.
The new scheme aims to immediately wipe out $39 billion of student loan debt owed to the U.S. Treasury by more than 800,000 people under the Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) program by crediting non-payments during periods of forbearance as monthly payments. The plan would cancel even more debt prematurely at taxpayer expense for another 2.8 million IDR borrowers in the future. The Department has no lawful authority to do this.
NCLA argues the U.S. Department of Education’s actions violate the Constitution’s Appropriations Clause, which grants Congress near-exclusive authority to cancel debt owed to the Treasury. Instead of promulgating the plan through the required notice-and-comment and negotiated rulemaking process under the Administrative Procedure Act, the Department simply issued a press release that did not identify any laws to justify it.
RELEVANT MATERIALS
NCLA FILINGS
Opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
May 17, 2024 | Read More
Plaintiffs-Appellants’ Reply Brief
January 11, 2024 | Read More
Plaintiffs-Appellants’ Opening Brief
October 10, 2023 | Read More
Order Dismissing Without Prejudice Plaintiffs’ Complaint and Denying as Moot Plaintiff’s Ex Parte Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order
August 14, 2023 | Read More
Plaintiffs’ Motion for Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction
August 7, 2023 | Read More