Biden White House says critics can ‘opt out’ as plan to forgive student loans draws lawsuit

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended President Joe Biden’s plan to forgive a big tranche of student loans after it drew a lawsuit on Tuesday from the libertarian Pacific Legal Foundation that was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. The plan will help tens of millions of Americans, and “folks have an option to opt out” if they do not want debt relief, the spokeswoman said. The Pacific Legal Foundation said in a news release that plaintiff Frank Garrison, a public-interest attorney who works for the foundation, has argued in the lawsuit that Biden’s plan will stick him with a new state tax bill that he would not have faced under an existing Public Loan Forgiveness Program.