Following a court’s Thursday night rejection of the Biden administration’s plan, the government has ceased to accept requests for the cancellation of federal student loans.

On the website where one can apply for forgiveness at Studentaid.gov, there is a notice that reads, “Courts have issued orders blocking our student debt relief program. As a result, at this time, we are not accepting applications. We are seeking to overturn those orders.”

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A federal judge in Texas recently denied President Joe Biden‘s executive move to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for tens of millions of Americans, prompting the suspension of the forgiveness programme.

In his 26-page ruling, Judge Mark Pittman of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas wrote, “In this country, we are not ruled by an all-powerful executive with a pen and a phone.” In 2019, former President Donald Trump appointed Pittman, who sided with the Job Creators Network Foundation, a conservative advocacy organisation.

The group accused the president of abusing his power by labelling Biden’s proposal “irrational, arbitrary, and unfair.” In the complaint, it was claimed that by not soliciting public feedback on its initiative, the White House flouted federal regulations.

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The Justice Department has already challenged the ruling, according to the Biden administration.

“We believe strongly that the Biden-Harris Student Debt Relief Plan is lawful and necessary to give borrowers and working families breathing room as they recover from the pandemic and to ensure they succeed when repayment restarts,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona noted in a statement. “Amidst efforts to block our debt relief program, we are not standing down.”

Finding a plaintiff who can demonstrate they have been damaged by the policy has been the main issue for those wishing to file a legal challenge against Biden’s scheme.

“Such injury is needed to establish what courts call ‘standing,’” a Harvard law professor, Laurence Tribe said.

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Tribe claimed that this is why he was astounded by the Texas judge’s decision.

“Judge Pittman’s decision was about as wrong and weird as any federal court ruling I can recall reading,” Tribe added. “He was wrong to decide the merits without first deciding whether either of the two plaintiffs had standing.”

The president’s plan to eliminate student loan debt was already being challenged by six Republican-led states: Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, and South Carolina. These states also claimed that the president had exceeded his powers.

The states’ lawsuit was dismissed by a federal judge who claimed that although they raised “important and significant issues to the debt relief scheme,” they lacked the legal authority to bring the claim.

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After their case was dismissed, the GOP-led states didn’t give up. In their appeal, they requested that the president’s plan, which was scheduled to begin in October, be put on hold while their application was reviewed.

The states’ emergency petition was approved by the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals, preventing the Biden administration from beginning to forgive any student debt.

The Education Department has nevertheless urged borrowers to keep requesting forgiveness because its plan had not yet been overturned.

On August 24, Biden declared that tens of millions of Americans would be qualified for student loan forgiveness, with amounts ranging from $10,000 to $20,000 depending on whether or not they were recipients of the Pell Grant, a sort of financial aid offered to low-income households.

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Republicans have denounced student loan forgiveness as a gift to wealthy college grads long before Biden took action in response to criticism from consumer activists and other Democrats. They asserted that the president lacked the authority to pardon consumer debt without the approval of Congress.

Republicans have denounced student loan forgiveness as a gift to wealthy college grads long before Biden took action in response to criticism from consumer activists and other Democrats. They asserted that the president lacked the authority to pardon consumer debt without the approval of Congress.

The legal challenges poured in, as expected. At least six lawsuits have been filed thus far in opposition to the president’s plan.

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The Education Department had first stated that borrowers would be granted forgiveness six weeks after applying. On October 17, the whole application went live, and within three weeks, about 26 million people had asked for assistance. 16 million such requests have had their demands granted as of yet.

The department has said that it will hold the applications of borrowers who have already applied for the time being.

According to higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz, borrowers should wait it out.

“The program is suspended but the U.S. Department of Education is appealing,” Kantrowitz stated, “And there were several aspects of the Texas court ruling that are unusual and may yield a successful appeal.”