The Biden administration will ask the Supreme Court to revive its student debt relief program, POLITICO reports.
The move to refer to the top court of the country as the White House fights to reverse lower court rulings that have upended its plans to forgive up to $20,000 of debt for tens of millions of Americans.
There are two court decisions that the Justice Department is filing over. One is in the 5th Circuit Court of appeals, and the other is in the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. DOJ signaled in the new filing that it may appeal both cases to the Supreme Court.
The Justice Department made a court filing on Thursday saying that it planned to ask the Supreme Court to reverse an injunction issued earlier this week by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals that prohibits the administration from carrying out student debt relief.
“We are confident in our legal authority to carry out this program and will be taking this fight to the Supreme Court so that borrowers can get the clarity and relief they deserve quickly,” White House spokesman Abdullah Hasan said in a statement. “President Biden will never stop fighting to deliver relief to working and middle-class Americans.”
There have been several legal challenges standing in the way of the Biden administration being able to implement its student loan forgiveness program.
First announced in August, the student loan forgiveness program has faced several legal challenges.
Court action will have to play out before it can cancel any federal student loan debt under the program.
Under the rules of the program, eligible low- and middle-income borrowers can receive up to $10,000 of federal student loan forgiveness and up to $20,000 in cancellation if they also received a Pell grant while enrolled in college.
It is expected to take months to resolve the issues.
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