The Biden administration’s student loan cancellation plan has been put on hold again in Missouri after advocates briefly celebrated this week when another judge ruled the plan could go ahead.
A federal judge in Missouri issued a preliminary injunction Thursday blocking sweeping debt relief, hours after Biden secured one favorable decision in Georgia.
The court in Georgia had dismissed its own state from the legal challenge, saying Georgia officials could not show harm from Biden’s plan, and moved the case to Missouri, a state it said had jurisdiction.
U.S. District Judge J. Randal Hall said the Biden administration can move forward with relief even though the case is moved out of Georgia and his preliminary injunction against the plan expires.
But the other Republican-led states challenging the plan – Missouri, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, North Dakota and Ohio – quickly asked Missouri’s up-to-date judge to block the plan.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Schelp granted that request Thursday evening.
“This is a huge win for transparency, the rule of law and for every American not having to foot the bill for others’ Ivy League debt,” said Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey (R).
The government’s proposed debt relief plan would provide partial or full debt relief to more than 27 million borrowers.
GOP states challenged the plan earlier this year, saying the administration doesn’t have the authority to grant such relief.
“The Department of Education is extremely disappointed with this decision on our proposed debt relief rules, which have not even been finalized yet,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “This lawsuit was filed by elected Republicans who have made it clear that they will stop at nothing to prevent millions of their own constituents from getting relief on their student loans. We will continue to vigorously defend these proposals in court.”
Updated at 10:21 a.m. EDT
