(Dover) A federal appeals court has issued an administrative stay temporarily blocking US President Joe Biden’s student debt reduction plan. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issued the stay while it considers a petition from six Republican-led states to halt the program.
Posted at 8:54 p.m.
President Joe Biden previously said Friday that nearly 22 million people have applied for federal student loan relief in the week since his administration made its online application available. That’s more than half the number of students the White House estimates are eligible for the program.
It was not immediately known what the suspension might mean for people who have already applied for the program in the past week.
The court has set late Monday as the deadline for a response from the Biden administration.
The crucial question now is whether the problem will be solved before 1er January, when federal student loan payments are due to restart after being halted during the pandemic.
Speaking at Delaware State University, a historically African-American university, where the majority of students receive federal Pell grants, Biden praised the statistics for the first week since the launch of the beta version of the application last friday. He officially unveiled it at the White House on Monday.
Mr. Biden’s plan provides federal student debt forgiveness of $10,000 for those with incomes below $125,000 a year or households earning less than $250,000 a year. Those who received Pell grants to attend college are eligible for an additional $10,000. The plan makes 20 million people eligible for full forgiveness of their federal student debt.
Mr. Biden highlighted the ease of the app, which does not require users to download forms or create an account.
“Friends, this takes less than five minutes,” Mr. Biden said. He claimed the “vast majority” of applicants are able to request relief simply by using their phone.
The president blasted Republicans who criticized his relief package, saying “their outrage is false and hypocritical.” He added, “I don’t want to hear it from Republican MAGA (Make America Great Again) officials” who have had millions in debt and pandemic relief loans canceled. He cited Republican Party lawmakers like Reps. Vern Buchanan and Marjorie Taylor Greene, who received loan forgiveness, and Sen. Ted Cruz, who called some student loan recipients “lazy.”
Mr Biden asked: “Who the hell do they think they are? »