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Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett has again turned down a challenge to President Joe Biden’s student loan handout, though the program remains blocked for the time being.
CNN reported that the justice’s short decision on Friday comes amid several lawsuits challenging the loan forgiveness plan as unconstitutional.
“Experts believe that one challenge – brought by six states – will likely eventually make it to the high court because it has the fewest procedural hurdles. That case is currently before the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which has issued an administrative stay of the program while it considers the states’ request for a preliminary injunction,” the outlet reported.
For the moment, however, Americans can still apply for the loan forgiveness program, the outlet added.
Coney Barrett blocked a similar request last month.
“Conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett rejected the motion from a Wisconsin group without offering an explanation. The Brown County Taxpayers Association filed the motion Wednesday, asking the court to immediately pause the loan relief program while it moves forward with litigation against the Biden Administration,” Forbes reported.
“A federal district court tossed a lawsuit from the group aiming to stop the program, which they have since appealed to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. The motion to the Supreme Court argued the program should be halted immediately because Biden overstepped his authority by authorizing loan forgiveness, which they claimed will lead to a gargantuan increase in the national debt,” the outlet added.
The student-loan forgiveness application site officially went live last month as well.
“After conducting beta testing over the weekend, President Joe Biden — alongside Education Secretary Miguel Cardona — announced that the application website is officially live, and borrowers can apply for up to $20,000 in debt relief that will start being processed by the Education Department. During his remarks, Biden noted that over 8 million borrowers applied over the weekend without a glitch or any difficulty,” Business Insider reported.
“It means more than 8 million Americans are starting this week on their way to receiving life-changing relief,” Biden said. “Millions more are going to have the opportunity to do it as well. As millions of people fill out the application, we’re going to make sure the system continues to work as smoothly as possible.”
The Insider report added: “Borrowers who submitted their applications during the beta testing period do not need to resubmit — their forms will now begin getting processed. As Biden noted, it takes just five minutes to apply — borrowers just need to enter basic information like their names, email addresses, and Social Security numbers. The department recommends applying before mid-November to ensure relief hits borrowers’ accounts before payments resume in January 2023.”
Biden spoke about the pending lawsuits on Monday, saying he does not believe the Republican-led groups have any standing.
“I will never apologize for helping working Americans and middle-class people as they recover from the pandemic,” Biden said. “Especially not the same Republicans who voted for a $2 trillion tax cut in the last administration.”
Scott Buchanan, executive director of the Student Loan Servicing Alliance, told Business Insider that loan companies can’t predict when borrowers may get relief because they are not involved in the implementation process of the plan under the Biden administration.
“We’re really waiting on more firm information about dates and timelines which we don’t really have yet,” Buchanan said.
“Biden’s plan would cancel up to $20,000 in student loan debt for Pell Grant recipients and $10,000 for other borrowers, for people earning up to $125,000 a year or part of a household where total earnings are no more than $250,000. Biden enacted the debt relief plan under the HEROES Act, which was passed after the Sept. 11 attacks sparked an American-led military campaign aimed at terrorism. The act gave the administration authority to forgive student loan debt in association with military operations or national emergencies,” USA Today reported.
Friday’s request that was blocked by Coney Barrett was filed by the Pacific Legal Foundation, CNN reported.
