On June 9, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) moved to dismiss a lawsuit filed by four student loan borrowers in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking to enforce the “Saving on a Valuable Education” (SAVE) final rule (covered by InfoBytes here). ED argued that the suit is moot because the SAVE final rule had been vacated, leaving no regulation for the court to enforce. As previously covered by InfoBytes, the borrowers filed the suit after the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri dismissed a separate challenge to the SAVE final rule as moot and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit summarily reversed that dismissal. ED argued that the borrowers’ claims depended on the SAVE final rule’s continued existence and failed because the Missouri district court, acting on the 8th Circuit’s directive, entered final judgment on March 10 vacating the SAVE final rule in full, except for one provision not relevant to the borrowers’ case.

ED’s motion asserts that, without the SAVE final rule, the borrowers could not enroll in SAVE, make qualifying payments under SAVE, receive discharges under SAVE, or use the plan’s buyback provision. Alternatively, the motion asserts that judicial comity supports dismissal, reasoning that the borrowers sought relief that would conflict with the 8th Circuit’s rulings and with their own pending motion to intervene in the Missouri case. ED asked the court to dismiss the complaint without prejudice for lack of jurisdiction or, alternatively, with prejudice for failure to state a claim.