Small business lobby Job Creators Network hires Karen Harned to fight student debt cancellation

The Job Creators Network Foundation (JCNF), a small business advocacy group announced Tuesday that esteemed lawyer Karen Harned had signed on with the organization.

Harned will serve as chief legal officer of the JCNF Legal Action Fund (LAF), a press release stated. Her first effort will be to challenge the Biden administration's efforts to cancel student loan debt.

The White House announced last month its plan to cancel up to $20,000 of student debt for certain borrowers, a move critics have estimated will cost taxpayers hundreds of billions and contribute to further increasing inflation. The JCNF announced it would explore legal challenges to the move shortly after.

"This move is fundamentally unfair to the tens of millions of hardworking Americans who never went to college and are now forced to shoulder loan forgiveness for the consultant class," JCNF President and CEO Alfredo Ortiz said at the time. "It’s also unfair to those who have scrimped and saved to repay their student loans. They already paid back their student debt, and now they will be forced to pay back the growing national debt as a result of this bailout."

"The JCNF Legal Action Fund will play a critical role in courts across the country fighting for Main Street and its ability to do business without unnecessary and illegal government overreach. We can think of no better partner to lead the LAF than Karen Harned, who has worked tirelessly on behalf of small businesses over the last twenty years," Ortiz said of the LAF's new chief legal officer.

"Her advocacy in courts, before regulatory agencies, and as an expert witness before Congress has been critical to Main Street," he continued. "Karen has extensive legal expertise, bringing two historic cases to the U.S. Supreme Court. Karen’s wealth of legal and regulatory experience, passion for small business, and desire to ensure that America's free market system is protected for future generations of Americans make her perfect for this role."

"I am honored to join JCNF as it expands its mission into the courts to ensure that Main Street and the free-market principles, which are the foundation of what makes America so great, are protected and allowed to flourish," Harned said of her hiring.