President Joe Biden announced that his administration would extend the pandemic-era pause in student loan repayments through June 30 amid legal challenges to his college debt-forgiveness plan, Bloomberg News reported. Payments now set to resume Jan. 1 won’t be required again until 60 days after court challenges to Biden’s loan forgiveness plan are settled. If the litigation is not resolved by June 30, payments will resume 60 days after that, the Education Department said in a statement. A federal appeals court last week blocked the administration from carrying out Biden’s plan to cancel as much as $20,000 in debt for some borrowers. “I’m confident that our student debt relief plan is legal,” Biden said in a tweet. “But it’s on hold because Republican officials want to block it.” The decision followed a ruling earlier this month from a federal judge in Texas finding the plan unlawful. The Department of Education has stopped accepting applications for loan forgiveness, thrusting millions of Americans into financial limbo. The fresh pause in loan payments would alleviate uncertainty for borrowers as the administration asks the Supreme Court to review lower-court orders preventing implementation of Biden’s debt-cancellation plan, the Education Department said.
