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() — A judge has temporarily halted President Joe Biden’s plan to relieve debt for millions of Americans struggling with student loans. But in an interview with on Thursday, Biden said he thinks checks will be going out in weeks.
“We’re going to win that case. I think in the next two weeks, you’re going to see those checks going out,” Biden said.
This comes as the plan has been blocked by a federal appeals court while the court hears a legal challenge from multiple Republican-led states. They claim that if debts are forgiven, they could face economic injury.
The states suggested the student loan forgiveness plan is “economically unwise and downright unfair.”
The move put a pause on the Biden administration’s plan of forgiving student loans for those that meet certain requirements. The program allows eligible borrowers bringing in less than $125,000 a year to receive up to $10,000 in federal student loans forgiven. Those who had Pell Grants may be able to have up to $20,000 in debt forgiven.
Still, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona tweeted out a video saying the department is continuing its work on the Biden administration’s plan.
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“We promise to fight to protect you from baseless lawsuits trying to stop us from providing you debt relief. We will not stop fighting for you,” Cardona said.
Some legal experts believe the effort to erase student debt initially stood on shaky legal ground since it was issued through an executive order.
Biden’s plan is based on the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act from 2003. It allows the Education Secretary to waive debt in times of national emergency.
Critics to Biden’s plan argue the national emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic is over and the act should not be used across-the-board, so the basis of the debt forgiveness plan is not justifiable.
According to an announcement from Biden on Friday, nearly 22 million borrowers have already applied for the student debt forgiveness. Those interested in applying for the student loan relief have been encouraged to submit their applications by Nov. 15.
