The Supreme Court said Thursday that President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program will remain on hold for now. However, the judges agreed to hear oral argument in February and a decision is expected in June.
A story of the facts
On Nov. 14, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in St. Louis issued an injunction temporarily banning the Biden administration’s student loan debt relief program.
- That court order came in response to a legal challenge from six Republican-led states, which argued that the program threatens their future tax revenues and that the plan circumvents Congressional authority.
- On November 18, the administration asked Judge Brett Kavanagh to lift that injunction. Kavanagh is the Supreme Court justice responsible for handling emergency requests arising from Eighth Circuit cases.
- Days before the Eighth Circuit issued its injunction, Judge Mark Pittman of the United States District Court in Texas ruled that the debt relief plan was unconstitutional, in response to another lawsuit challenging the program.
- This ruling, which also applies nationally, remains in effect.
About 26 million people had applied for student loan relief before the recent court decisions, and 16 million of those applications have been approved, according to the Biden administration.
Nearly two weeks ago, notifications began being sent to those who had been approved, though the future of the program has remained in limbo since lower courts blocked it across the country.
A bumpy start
The student debt relief program, which Biden announced in late August, has experienced several setbacks in the three months since its announcement.
- In that month, 22 U.S. governors signed a letter to President Joe Biden asking him to withdraw the student loan forgiveness plan that would void up to $22,000 for federal aid borrowers.
- The website’s webpage for receiving questions started functioning in mid-October. Following the lawsuit filed by the six Republican-led states, the page was still up and running.
- In November, after the Texas judge’s decision, the president’s administration suspended the application process for the program, indicating it would be “temporarily.”
