Gov. Kim Reynolds sues President Joe Biden over his student loan debt forgiveness plan

Iowa joins five other states in challenging President Joe Biden’s authority of canceling student debt in a Missouri district court.

Matt Sindt

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds speaks during Ashley Hinson’s BBQ Bash at the Linn County Fairgrounds Sunday, August 28, 2022.

Emily Delgado, Politics Reporter


Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds and governors in other five states filed a lawsuit against President Joe Biden’s student loan debt forgiveness plan on Thursday.

Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas and North Carolina filed the lawsuit in a district court in Missouri, asking the court to temporarily restrain the student loan debt forgiveness plan immediately. 

Reynolds announced Iowa’s part in the lawsuit in a press release on Thursday. This action is the second time Reynolds has voiced her disapproval of the student loan debt forgiveness plan. In mid-September, Reynolds and 21 other governors signed a letter showing their disapproval for the plan. 

“Your plan will encourage more student borrowing, incentivize higher tuition rates, and drive-up inflation even further. These outcomes hurt everyone, but none more so than the millions of working-class Americans who’ve already paid off their loans or chosen not to borrow,” Reynolds said in the letter signed on Sept 12. 

Biden announced in August that his administration would give $10,000 in student loan debt to people making under $125,000 and an additional $10,000 if a borrower received a Pell Grant. 

RELATED: Biden’s new student loan plan will forgive up to $20,000 in debt

The lawsuit comes after the Biden administration signaled debt cancelation could begin next week, according to the press release sent by Reynolds.

“By forcing them to pay for other people’s loans – regardless of income – President Biden’s mass debt cancellation punishes these Americans and belittles the path they chose. This expensive, unlawful plan is an insult to working people and must be stopped,” Reynolds said in the press release. 

The court file, which also states the six states are suing the U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, said there are no statutes that permit Biden to cancel debt if the borrower voluntarily assumed to pay the loans.