Federal Judge Halts Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness Plan: Administration Vows to Fight On

By Stacy M. Brown | NNPA (NNPA) – President Joe Biden’s ongoing efforts to alleviate the burden of student loan debt have hit another significant obstacle. U.S. District Judge John A. Ross, an Obama nominee, issued an order halting further loan forgiveness under the Biden administration’s income-driven repayment plan known as SAVE. This decision is a component of a more significant legal conflict that several Republican-led states started. Judge Ross stated that the administration is “preliminarily enjoined from any further loan forgiveness for borrowers under the Final Rule’s SAVE plan until such time as this Court can decide the case on the merits.” The ruling is a major setback for Biden, whose administration launched the SAVE plan after the Supreme Court quashed a more comprehensive debt relief initiative last year. That plan had aimed to eliminate up to $20,000 in federal student debt for approximately 43 million borrowers. The judge rejected the administration’s motion to dismiss the case, affirming that the states involved had standing and “are likely to succeed on the merits of their argument that the early loan forgiveness provisions… were promulgated in a manner exceeding the Secretary’s statutory authority.” The Biden administration, undeterred, quickly responded. White House...