A conservative taxpayers' group in Wisconsin asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness plan on Wednesday.
According to Axios, the Brown County Taxpayers Association in Green Bay asked that the plan be temporarily suspended due to a pending appeal at a lower federal court.
President Biden's student loan forgiveness plan, which is now accepting applications, cancels up to $20,000 in student debt for millions of Americans. The lawsuit argues there is no legal justification since constitutional spending power is reserved exclusively for Congress, Axios reported.
The taxpayers' group initially filed the lawsuit against President Biden and the U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona earlier this month. It is the first and only lawsuit to have reached the Supreme Court, according to Axios.
The Biden Administration has been sued by seven states and two organizations.
RELATED ARTICLE: UW-Madison professor says student loan forgiveness faces uncertain future as lawsuits play out
As of Monday, five lawsuits have reportedly been filed in court. Two, including one in Wisconsin, have already been denied due to a lack of legal standing.
UW-Madison professor Nick Hillman believes a lawsuit filed jointly by six states has the best chance to undo the forgiveness.
"The big one that I think has the most credibility is the student loan servicers are the ones who are potentially directly harmed by these actions,” Hillman said.
Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and South Carolina argue the debt relief would harm loan servicers in their states and ultimately reduce tax revenue.
"If they are found to have standing and can proceed, I wouldn't be surprised if this goes all the way up to the Supreme Court and gets stopped before a single penny is canceled,” he said.
While Hillman believes broad student loan forgiveness is far from certain at this point, the president of a non-profit called The Institute of Student Loan Advisors argues the Biden administration scaled back eligibility for forgiveness in an attempt to ensure the lawsuits fail. For example, 770,000 borrowers are now excluded because their federal student loans are held by private lenders.
Although the forgiveness application is officially open, a court order means the Department of Education cannot begin discharging student loan debt until next Monday.
It is estimated that over 685,000 people in Wisconsin are eligible for federal student loan relief, the White House says.
