The debt relief program is facing potentially months of additional uncertainty as action now moves to the Supreme Court.
The Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness plan remains stalled, after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to lift an order blocking the sweeping program.
Wednesday’s ruling by a three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based court is the latest blow to a plan that has been shadowed by legal doubt since Biden announced it in August. The decision left in force a ruling from a federal judge in Texas declaring the program unlawful.
The debt relief program is facing potentially months of additional uncertainty as action now moves to the Supreme Court. The administration is already asking the conservative-majority court to lift a separate order blocking the program in a suit filed by six Republican-led states.
“We are confident in our legal authority to carry out the student debt relief program and will be taking this fight to the Supreme Court as well,” said White House spokesman Abdullah Hasan.
“Republican officials and special interests are trying to rob middle-class families of the relief they need and deserve, but the president doesn’t back down from a fight, especially one for middle-class families.”
Both sides in that case have suggested the high court might hear arguments on a fast-track basis in February, putting the matter on course for a definitive ruling by June at the latest.
