Student Debt Forgiveness Delayed
The initial plan was to implement the relief in January, but now there is no timeline on when it could happen.
(Jemal Countess via Getty Images for We, The 45 Million)
A federal judge in Texas ruled Thursday that President Biden’s plan to cancel over hundreds of billions of dollars in student loan debt went against the constitution and cannot go through.
The Biden administration has stopped taking new applications. Borrowers who had planned to get rid of their student loans either partially or completely are not happy with this setback. Many people who were going to make use of the new program were beginning to plan their future that could have potentially been completely debt-free and now they have to deal with an all-too familiar financial roadblock.
In a twist according to The Intercept, one of the plaintiffs in the Texas lawsuit was a recipient of $48,000 in loan forgiveness, which is over quadruple the amount that any single person could have received from Biden’s program for student loans.
When Biden announced that eligible Americans could receive up to $10,000 in student loan forgiveness, it was expected to relieve the burden of many in the country. And some have criticized the latest ruling based on the history of U.S. spending.
There is also criticism of Biden’s response to the new restriction.
Now that the federal government has made their ruling, the future of borrowers remains up in the air.
The initial plan was to implement the relief in January, but now there is no timeline on when it could happen. It could take months before there is an update on whether or not the loan relief program can be allowed or if it will be completely thrown out due to it being considered unconstitutional.