The US president has promised to offer borrowers relief through other programs, but the clock on repayment restarts in September
The US Supreme Court blocked President Joe Biden’s effort to cancel $430 billion in student loan debt on Friday, ruling the White House did not have the authority to unilaterally forgive the educational debts of 26 million Americans under the Covid-19 emergency loan forgiveness program his lawyers had cited.
The court ruled 6-3 in favor of six Republican-led states that sued the White House for overstepping its authority under federal law with the debt forgiveness plan it unveiled in August. The votes were split along ideological lines with the three liberal judges dissenting.
Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts rejected the administration’s claim that the program was merely a “modification” of the existing Covid-19 emergency loan program and thus authorized under a 2003 law allowing the…