Allow student loan forgiveness program ,Biden administration asks the Supreme Court to
WASHINGTON — Friday’s request by the Biden administration to the Supreme Court for reinstatement of President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program has been blocked in part by a federal appellate court.
In court papers, Elizabeth Prelogar, Solicitor General, urged the justices lift an injunction imposed in St. Louis by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Monday. Separately, the plan was also blocked by a Texas federal judge in a separate case. The government also requested the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has been asked to lift the injunction.
Prelogar stated in the new filing that the 8th Circuit decision left millions of economically vulnerable borrowers “in limbo, uncertain as to the amount of their debt, and unable make financial decisions with an accurate view of their future repayment obligations.”
The proposal has been challenged by a variety of individuals and groups. The Supreme Court is currently hearing a case involving claims made by six states: Nebraska (Missouri), Arkansas (Iowa), Kansas (Kansas), South Carolina (South Carolina) and Missouri (Missouri). Prelogar requested that the states respond by Wednesday noon to the Supreme Court. This indicates that the justices won’t act before then.
The court could either grant or deny the request of the government or, as in other cases, may agree to hear oral arguments on a speedy basis and issue a more detailed decision.
A federal judge had ruled against the states, but an appeals court disagreed. The court focused on the Missouri agency that service federal student loans. If loans are forgiven, the state claims that revenue would be lost by the agency.
The program’s opponents face a major problem: they must show that they have the legal standing to sue.
