Loan forgiveness plan by Joe Biden temporarily stayed by US court

The Federal appeals court issued a temporary stay on the Loan Forgiveness Plan presented by United States' President Joe Biden. This bars the US administration from cancelling any loans that are covered under the policy while the court considers a challenge to it. The lawsuit by Republicans was dismissed last month by the judge of a lower court, stating that "the plaintiffs did not have the legal standing to bring the challenge."

News agency CNN Tweeted: "BREAKING: A federal appeals court put a temporary hold on President Biden's student debt relief program while it considers a challenge to the policy."

Joe Biden administration has time until Monday to respond: Appeals Court

The US Appeals court has time till Monday to respond to the state's request, the states have time till Tuesday to reply to the response. The Appeals court is requested by the States to act before Sunday because that is the date Joe Biden said he would put forth the loan forgiveness plan to action. 

Karine Jean-Pierre, White House press secretary, responded to the pause by saying that the Joe Biden Administration will continue to fight back against the Republican-led legal efforts against the program and will “continue to move full speed ahead in our preparations in compliance with this order. Tonight’s temporary order does not prevent borrowers from applying for student debt relief at studentaid.gov – and we encourage eligible borrowers to join the nearly 22 million Americans whose information the Department of Education already has. It also does not prevent us from reviewing these applications and preparing them for transmission to loan servicers”. The forgiveness plan was first announced in August. It aimed to relieve millions of students before the payments of federal student loans resumed after a three-year pause due to the pandemic.