A federal appeals court yesterday declined to put on hold a Texas judge's ruling that said President Joe Biden's plan to cancel hundreds of billions of dollars in student loan debt was unlawful, Reuters reported. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit rejected the Biden administration's request to pause a judge's Nov. 10 order vacating the $400 billion student debt relief program in a lawsuit pursued by a conservative advocacy group. The decision by Fort Worth, Texas-based U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman was one of two nationally that has prevented the U.S. Department of Education under the Democratic president from moving forward with granting debt relief to millions of borrowers. The administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to similarly lift an order by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit that, at the request of six Republican-led states, had barred it from cancelling student loans. A three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit in Wednesday's brief order declined to put Pittman's ruling on hold while the administration appealed his decision, but the court directed that the appeal be heard on an expedited basis.
