Supreme Court keeps on hold Biden’s scaled-down plan to reduce student loan debt
LA TimesThe Supreme Court denied an emergency appeal from the Biden administration, saying it would wait for a further ruling from a U.S. appeals court in St. Louis. The Supreme Court on Wednesday kept on hold a plan by President Biden to reduce student loan monthly payments for millions of borrowers and cancel loans after they have been paid on for 20 years. In a brief order with no dissents, the justices denied an emergency appeal from the administration and said it would wait for a further ruling from a U.S. appeals court in St. Louis, which blocked Biden’s plan from taking effect. In early August, the 8th Circuit Court in St. Louis issued a nationwide order forbidding the Education secretary from taking any further steps to “forgive approximately $475 billion in federal-student-loan debt.” Two weeks ago, Solicitor Gen. Elizabeth Prelogar urged the high court to lift that order or to narrow its scope. “The SAVE Plan is a transformative expansion in regulatory authority” and would cost the government $475 billion over 10 years, said U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree in Kansas City.