Federal judge keeps Biden debt relief on hold

U.S. District Judge Randal Hall issued an order on Thursday extending a temporary pause to the Biden administration’s latest attempt at mass federal student debt forgiveness. Hall’s order is the latest development in a lawsuit filed against the Biden administration by the state of Missouri in early September after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to lift a preliminary injunction on President Joe Biden’s debt plan. Six other states joined the lawsuit. Documentation showed the Education Department instructing federal loan servicers to start canceling hundreds of billions of dollars in loans minutes after the Supreme Court ruling was issued, the state’s lawsuit alleges. Hall’s latest order extends a previously implemented injunction stalling Biden’s debt cancellation attempts for an additional two weeks.

What’s the point of extending a pause by two weeks? The Thursday order came one day after a hearing where each side shared oral arguments. The 14-day extension will allow the court to appropriately review each party’s arguments before issuing an order on pending motions, Hall wrote in his extension order.

Dig deeper: Read Josh Schumacher’s report on one of the administration’s latest pushes to cancel student debt ahead of the November election.