A federal judge in Texas threw out President Biden’s student loan forgiveness program. The Education Department plans to appeal, but the program is on hold in the meantime.
The Biden administration has stopped accepting applications for the student debt relief it announced in August, casting doubt on a program that was intended to help 40 million borrowers.
The Education Department’s move came in response to a ruling Thursday from U.S. District Judge Mark T. Pittman in Texas, who held that the department didn’t have the legal authority to offer loan forgiveness on that scale. The White House said it will appeal the ruling.
But Pittman’s ruling only intensified the program’s legal troubles. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals had already barred the Education Department from writing off any debt while it considered a lawsuit brought by six Republican-controlled states.
Here’s a brief explanation of where things stand and what issues are involved in the lawsuits brought against the debt-relief program.
Yes. Pittman “vacated” the entire debt relief program, saying the department usurped Congress’ legislative power in violation of the Constitution.
Unless the administration persuades a higher court to overturn Pittman’s ruling, the program is dead.
That depends on the outcome of the appeal. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday that 26 million borrowers had already applied and 16 million had been approved for loan forgiveness. She added: “The Department will hold onto their information so it can quickly process their relief once we prevail in court.”
As of Friday, the department was no longer accepting applications in light of Pittman’s ruling. If its appeal succeeds, it could resume taking applications.
Borrowers who have already reported their annual income from 2020 or 2021 do not need to apply to qualify for the relief, if the program is restored. That’s typically the case for borrowers enrolled in an income-driven repayment plan.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett rejected appeals by two of the groups challenging the debt relief, but those orders came in the context of different cases.
Multiple lawsuits have been filed against the loan forgiveness plan, either by conservative interest groups or by Republican state officials. While two of them were dismissed because the plaintiffs couldn’t show that they were injured by the program, two others have gained at least some traction.
The lawsuits all made the same basic claim: that the Education Department exceeded its legal authority when it offered blanket debt relief to borrowers with federal student loans.
