President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that the pause on federal student loan payments will be extended until June 30, 2023, while his plan to forgive a swath of federally held student debt faces mounting legal challenges.
In a short video released by the White House on Tuesday afternoon, Biden expresses confidence in the legality of his plan to forgive thousands in student loans for borrowers making less than $125,000 but says the extension would allow the Supreme Court to hear the legal challenges against it during its current term.
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION ASKS SUPREME COURT TO REVIVE STUDENT DEBT RELIEF PLAN
“As Americans continue to recover from the pandemic, my administration has been working to provide student debt relief to millions of working- and middle-class families across the country,” the president says in the video. “But Republican special interest and elected officials sued to deny this relief even from their own constituents. But I’m completely confident my plan is legal.”
I’m confident that our student debt relief plan is legal. But it’s on hold because Republican officials want to block it.
That’s why @SecCardona is extending the payment pause to no later than June 30, 2023, giving the Supreme Court time to hear the case in its current term. pic.twitter.com/873CurlHFZ
— President Biden (@POTUS) November 22, 2022
Student loan payments were set to resume on Jan. 1 after they were first paused in March 2020 by the Trump administration at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pause has since been extended multiple times by the Biden administration, most recently in August.
The August extension, which was billed as the final one, was accompanied by an announcement that student loan borrowers making less than $125,000 would receive $20,000 in student loan forgiveness if the borrower received a Pell Grant and $10,000 in forgiveness for all other borrowers.
But the plan has faced multiple legal challenges since it was first announced and was recently blocked by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Biden administration filed an emergency request with the Supreme Court last week to have the plan reinstated.
“We’re not going to back down in our fight to give families breathing room,” Biden says in the video. “That’s why the Department of Justice is asking the Supreme Court of the United States to rule on the case. But it isn’t fair to ask tens of millions of borrowers eligible for relief to resume their student debt payments while the courts consider the lawsuit.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“I’m never going to apologize for helping working-class and middle-class families recover from the economic crisis created by the pandemic,” the president continues. “And I’ll continue working to make government work to deliver for all Americans.”
