A federal appeals court sent President Joe Biden’s marquee federal student loan cancellation plan to a screeching halt Friday.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit imposed a stay, directing the Biden administration not to begin wiping out student loan debts while it mulls a challenge filed by a group of Republicans opposed to the plan.
JUDGE DISMISSES REPUBLICAN STATES’ CHALLENGE TO BLOCK STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS PLAN
“Appellants’ emergency motion for an administrative stay prohibiting the appellees from discharging any student loan debt under the Cancellation program until this Court rules on the appellants’ motion for an injunction pending appeal is granted. The request for expedited briefing on the motion for an injunction pending appeal is granted,” the court wrote.
The lawsuit was brought forth by six Republican-led states. On Thursday, a Missouri judge declined to take up the suit, citing a lack of standing. The plaintiffs quickly appealed that decision.
A beta website for student loan forgiveness opened on Oct. 14, and the site went live on Monday. Biden claims that 22 million people have registered for forgiveness. His administration had estimated about 40 million were eligible.
Back in August, Biden unveiled his massive student loan forgiveness initiative, which had been a long sought-after policy goal within his party. Under the plan, borrowers with annual incomes of $125,000 or less would see up to $10,000 of federal student loans canceled.
Relief for borrowers who received Pell Grants during their schooling jumps up to $20,000. The price tag for the mass cancellation is roughly $400 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Another estimate projected the program to cost nearly $1 trillion.
Republicans voiced vehement opposition to the program shortly after it was announced. Biden’s administration argued it had the authority to wipe out student debt via the 2003 HEROES Act, which grants the government power to relieve student loans in the event of war or national emergencies.
Although Biden proclaimed the COVID-19 pandemic was over last month, his administration has leaned on the pandemic to justify the student loan relief.
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The president excoriated Republican critics of the student loan forgiveness gambit earlier Friday.
“I don’t want to hear it from MAGA Republicans who had hundreds of thousands of dollars of debts, even millions of dollars in pandemic relief loans forgiven. Marjorie Taylor Greene, she and her husband got over $180,000 in business loans,” he chided at an event.
Biden: I don’t want to hear it from Maga Republicans who had hundreds of thousands of dollars of debts, even millions of dollars in pandemic relief loans forgiven. Marjorie Taylor Greene, she and her husband got over $180,000 in business loans pic.twitter.com/WS9TPXIB2x
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 21, 2022
