Court Blocks Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness Plan

The U.S. Department of Education is urging student loan borrowers to carry on seeking relief despite a recent court order to block student loan forgiveness.

On Friday, Oct. 21, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily blocked the Biden Administration from carrying out its student loan forgiveness plan.

The appeals court blocked the plan claiming it would financially hurt state-based loan companies that manage some federal loans amounting to billions. The Court could announce a ruling as soon as this week. But if the same group appeals to the Supreme Court, it could slow down the timeline for implementing student loan forgiveness.

The request for an injunction was brought by six Republican-led states: Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, and South Carolina. The program could have started as early as this week.

Nonetheless, the U.S. Department of Education is urging student loan borrowers to carry on seeking its relief. The President’s Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated on Friday night that since Biden’s official launch of the student loan forgiveness application website, studentaid.gov, on Oct. 17, nearly 22 million Americans have already applied for loan forgiveness.

The latter also noted that “Tonight’s temporary order does not prevent borrowers from applying for student debt relief” and added, “It also does not prevent us from reviewing these applications and preparing them for transmission to loan servicers.” She said the order “merely prevents debt from being discharged until the court makes a decision.”