NOT SO FAST

Judges Block Major Parts of Biden’s Student Loan Repayment Plan

The separate court injunctions could have consequences for millions of people.

A pair of federal judges in Missouri and Kansas on Monday blocked major elements of President Joe Biden’s new student loan repayment plan, potentially impacting millions of Americans. U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree in Wichita, Kansas, stopped the Department of Education from fully enacting the SAVE loan repayment plan which would have seen participants with undergraduate debt have their payments slashed by 50 percent beginning on July 1. District Judge John Ross in St. Louis, Missouri, separately issued an injunction preventing the government from forgiving any more loans through SAVE. Missouri’s Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who helped to lead litigation seeking to overturn the program, called Ross’ ruling a “huge win for the Constitution.” “Congress never gave Biden the authority to saddle working Americans with half-a-trillion dollars in other people’s debt,” Bailey wrote on X. The White House said it strongly disagrees with the decisions. “Today’s rulings won’t stop our Administration from using every tool available to give students and borrowers the relief they need,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.