Judge halts further student loan forgiveness under part of Biden's new repayment plan

A federal judge on Monday temporarily barred the Education Department from allowing additional loan forgiveness under a key component of President Joe Biden's student debt relief plan.

The judge's order halted the cancellation of federal student loans under the income-driven repayment plan known as SAVE after several states sued over the program.

The Biden 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," U.S. District Judge John A. Ross wrote.

The SAVE plan came about after the Supreme Court last year rejected the Biden administration’s broader effort to address debt under its pandemic-era relief plan, which aimed to erase up to $20,000 in federal student debt for about 43 million borrowers.

Ross also rejected an effort by the Biden administration to dismiss the case, saying the states that brought the lawsuit 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," referring to the secretary of education.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, representing one of the seven states that brought the lawsuit, lauded the ruling.

“By attempting to saddle working Missourians with Ivy League debt, Joe Biden is undermining our constitutional structure,” Bailey said in a statement. “Only Congress has the power of the purse, not the President. Today’s ruling was a huge win for the rule of law, and for every American who Joe Biden was about to force to pay off someone else’s debt.”

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said: "With Independence Day fast