White House press secretary says 'baseless lawsuits' won't stop student loan handout
Karine Jean-Pierre said President Biden 'doesn't back away from a fight'
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., criticizes President Biden’s student loan handout and the catastrophic effects it could have on the U.S. economy on ‘Mornings with Maria.’
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a Friday press conference that "baseless lawsuits" won't stop President Biden's student loan handout.
Jean-Pierre's comments come after a federal judge in Texas struck down Biden's plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student loan debt for Pell Grant recipients in college, and up to $10,000 for others who borrowed using federal student loans.
The Department of Justice is taking its case to the Supreme Court, requesting that they reverse previous rulings which blocked the program from going info effect.
"This is critical breathing room that many middle class families were looking forward to," Jean-Pierre said on Friday. "And it's outrageous. Just outrageous that Republican officials and special interest groups are trying to block that or trying to make it harder for these middle class Americans across the country. We are confident in our legal authority to carry out this program. And we won't let these baseless lawsuits stop us either."
BIDEN'S STUDENT LOAN HANDOUT STRUCK DOWN BY FEDERAL JUDGE IN TEXAS
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh / AP Newsroom)
"President Biden doesn't back away from a fight," she added.
Jean-Pierre dodged a question from a reporter who asked if the Biden administration has "analyzed any potential inflationary effects of student loan forgiveness."
"It's a good question that you're asking. But look — I don't have any data to share with you on that particular question," she said. "But the president has been very clear. He wants to make sure that he's lowering costs for the American people."
United States District Judge Mark Pittman wrote in a Nov. 10 ruling that the program needs congressional approval.
WHITE HOUSE FILES SUPREME COURT EMERGENCY APPEAL TO RESCUE $500B STUDENT DEBT HANDOUT
A federal appeals court on Monday blocked President Joe Biden's student debt relief plan days after a Texas federal judge struck it down. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images / Getty Images)
"Whether the Program constitutes good public policy is not the role of this Court to determine. Still, no one can plausibly deny that it is either one of the largest delegations of legislative power to the executive branch, or one of the largest exercises of legislative power without congressional authority in the history of the
United States," Pittman wrote.
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The U.S. Supreme Court building is shown, May 4, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File / AP Newsroom)
Jean-Pierre said at the time that the Department of Justice has filed an appeal, adding that the Biden administration "strongly" disagrees with the decision.
Fox News' Timothy Nerozzi contributed to this report.