Press Release
LITTLE ROCK— Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge issued a statement following a federal District Court’s decision to dismiss a suit against the Biden Administration for illegally cancelling student loan debt. The decision comes after Arkansas co-led a coalition of states in filing a lawsuit in September against President Joe Biden, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and the U.S. Department of Education for violating federal law, the constitutional principle of separation of powers and the Administrative Procedure Act.
“I'm disappointed in the court's decision to dismiss our lawsuit," said Attorney General Leslie Rutledge. “The state coalition will immediately appeal this decision."
The lawsuit, which was filed in September, highlights that President Biden knew he did not have the proper authority to authorize this type of executive action, as evidenced by his attempt to work with Congress to find a legitimate and legal solution to the student loan crisis. After Congress routinely failed to pass legislation addressing the issue, Biden attempted to unilaterally act far beyond the authority granted to him by the Constitution. This action will result in approximately half a trillion dollars in losses to the federal treasury and contribute the already rampant inflation the nation is experiencing.
The Democrat Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, summarized it best when she said, “people think the President of the United States has the power for debt forgiveness. He does not.”
Joining Arkansas in the suit are the states of: Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina.
About Attorney General Leslie Rutledge
Leslie Carol Rutledge is the 56th Attorney General of Arkansas. Elected on November 4, 2014, and sworn in on January 13, 2015, she is the first woman and first Republican in Arkansas history to be elected as Attorney General. She was resoundingly re-elected on November 6, 2018. Since taking office, she has significantly increased the number of arrests and convictions against online predators who exploit children and con artists who steal taxpayer money through Social Security Disability and Medicaid fraud. Further, she has held Rutledge Roundtable meetings and Mobile Office hours in every county of the State each year, and launched a Military and Veterans Initiative. She has led efforts to roll back government regulations that hurt job creators, fight the opioid epidemic, teach internet safety, combat domestic violence and make the office the top law firm for Arkansans. Rutledge serves on committees for Consumer Protection, Criminal Law and Veterans Affairs for the National Association of Attorneys General. She also served as the former Chairwoman of the Republican Attorneys General Association.
A native of Batesville, she is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law. Rutledge clerked for the Arkansas Court of Appeals, was Deputy Counsel for former Governor Mike Huckabee, served as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in Lonoke County and was an Attorney at the Department of Human Services before serving as Counsel at the Republican National Committee. Rutledge and her husband, Boyce, have one daughter. The family has a home in Pulaski County and a farm in Crittenden County.