Biden Admin Urges Supreme Court To Lift Block On Student Loan Forgiveness Program

 The Biden administration is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to lift a lower court ruling which blocked its student loan forgiveness program, according to NBC News.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) requested Friday that the Supreme Court lift a nationwide emergency motion put in place Monday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit which blocked the administration’s student loan forgiveness program, according to NBC News. Introduced in August, the Department of Education’s (DOE) plan would forgive up to $10,000 of student loans for those making less than $125,000 per year. 

“Congress specifically authorized the Secretary to waive or modify any applicable statutory or regulatory provision … to ensure that borrowers affected by a national emergency are not worse off in relation to their student loans,” the DOJ argued in the filing according to Axios.

A federal appeals court temporarily halted the student loan forgiveness program in October blocking the Biden administration from “discharging any student loan debt.” On Nov. 10, a Texas federal judge ruled that the DOE’s student loan forgiveness program was illegal because borrowers were not given an opportunity to comment on the program.

Student loan borrowers stage a rally in front of The White House to celebrate President Biden cancelling student debt and to begin the fight to cancel any remaining debt on August 25, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for We the 45m)

The DOE shut down its student loan forgiveness application portal on Nov. 12 following the ruling by the Texas U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman, the DOE website showed.

“Courts have issued orders blocking our student debt relief program,” the DOE website wrote. “As a result, at this time, we are not accepting applications. We are seeking to overturn those orders.”