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Yes.

The conservative law firm Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness plan on Oct. 4, claiming the plan would be unconstitutional. 

WILL says the Biden administration had announced an “explicit racial motivation” as a justification for the plan — to “narrow the racial wealth gap” and help Black students. By doing that, WILL claims, the administration “violated the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection of the law.” Black student borrowers tend to owe more money that white student borrowers and are more likely to default on their loans.

WILL also alleges the plan violates the constitutional separation of powers because Congress never approved the program. “Defendants have unconstitutionally exercised the taxing and spending power of Congress,” WILL claims.

The group is asking a judge to immediately block Biden’s plan while the lawsuit is pending.

Sources

Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty: Lawsuit filed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty

NBC15: Wisconsin law firm sues to block student loan forgiveness

Wisconsin Public Radio: Conservative Wisconsin taxpayer group sues over Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan

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Jacob Alabab-Moser joined as Wisconsin Watch’s fact checker in September 2022, as part of the effort by The Gigafact Project in partnership with different state-level news outlets to combat misinformation in the 2022 midterm elections. Jacob has several years of experience as a fact checker and research assistant at a variety of organizations, including at The Gigafact Project. He holds a BA from Brown University and is pursuing a MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science.