President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan was blocked by a federal judge in Texas on Thursday.
After already being put on hold when the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals gave a temporary stay in October, the student loan forgiveness plan is being further evaluated, CBS News reported.
Was student loan debt canceled?
The Washington Post reported that “the ruling Thursday from U.S. District Judge Mark T. Pittman of the Northern District of Texas handed a legal victory to the Job Creators Network Foundation, a conservative group that filed the lawsuit in October on behalf of two student loan borrowers.”
The plan was previously put on hold before Thursday’s ruling, when an appellate court looked into another lawsuit. The new block further sets back the Biden administration’s plan from helping the eligible 40 million student loan borrowers, with over half of those borrowers having already signed up for the plan, according to the Post.
The Biden administration’s plan was set to cancel up to $10,000 in federal student loan debt for most borrowers. The plan applied to those who earn $125,000 or less a year and married couples who earn $250,000 or less. Lower-income students or people who had Pell Grants could have up to $20,000 forgiven.
CBS News reported that the president of Job Creators Network Foundation, Elaine Parker, said in a statement, “This ruling protects the rule of law which requires all Americans to have their voices heard by the federal government.”
“This attempted illegal student loan bailout would have done nothing to address the root cause of unaffordable tuition: greedy and bloated colleges that raise tuition far more than inflation year after year while sitting on $700 billion in endowments,” Parker continued.
What was Biden’s response?
According to a tweet from White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, an appeal has been filed by the Biden administration.
“We strongly disagree with the District Court’s ruling,” Jean-Pierre wrote in the tweet.
USA Today reported that in order to bring relief to those participating in the plan, if it prevails in court, the Department of Education is still holding on to the information it has collected in regards to those needing student loan forgiveness.
“We will never stop fighting for hardworking Americans most in need — no matter how many roadblocks our opponents and special interest try to put in our way,” Jean-Pierre said in a statement, per USA Today.