After a federal judge ruled on Thursday against President Biden’s student loan forgiveness program, declaring it unlawful, the Biden administration announced on Friday it would stop accepting applications.
The website for the program which would have provided borrowers with up to $20,000 in student loan relief now shows a message saying ‘Student loan debt relief is blocked, explaining they are not accepting applications at this time due to the court ruling in Texas.
The US Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, announced in a statement on Friday that the Department of Justice has already appealed the Texas ruling.
The site that previously led to the student loan applications goes on to say the department will hold the applications of the millions of borrowers who already applied for the relief, stressing that the administration will fight in court for the program.
The Federal Student Aid office promised to post information as soon as further updates are available, encouraging individuals to sign up for updates.
President Biden previously said he’ll not extend the pause on payments again, noting that student loan payments are set to begin at the beginning of 2023 while borrowers still wait for a final ruling on the program.
US District Judge Mark Pittman, a Trump appointee, struck down on Thursday Biden’s plan which would’ve to forgive up to $10,000 for borrowers who make under $125,000 and up to $20,000 for Americans who received Pell Grants, ruling that the program is an unconstitutional exercise of Congress’s legislative power based on the fact that he found no clear congressional authorization for the program.
Judge Pittman’s ruling was in response to the lawsuit filed by the conservative group Job Creators Network Foundation on behalf of two student loan borrowers who were ineligible for the relief program that was temporarily halted previously in October with the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision after a request from a group of Republican attorneys general.
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