by Kate Anderson
The Supreme Court announced on Thursday that it will hear a lawsuit challenging President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program in February, while the plan currently remains blocked.
The court released a miscellaneous order late Thursday afternoon from Justice Brett Kavanaugh granting the six states involved in the lawsuit the opportunity to present oral arguments. Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan remains blocked by an injunction, pending a further ruling from the court, who will hear arguments in February 2023.
The program had previously been stalled after the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an injunction and then subsequently denied the Biden administration’s request for an appeal of a Texas judge’s ruling that the plan was “unconstitutional.”
The plan, announced in August, would have allowed student loan holders to receive up to $10,000 in relief and up to $20,000 if they had also received a Pell grant, so long as applicants earned an annual income of less than $125,000 or $250,000 if part of a household. The Department of Education justified implementing the plan based on the 2003 HEROES Act.
The announcement led to multiple lawsuits and stirred controversy with elected officials over concerns of cost and impacts on inflation. Biden recently approved an extension of the student loan freeze until June 2023.
The Supreme Court, the White House, and the Department of Education did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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Kate Anderson is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
