COLUMBIA, S.C. — Parts of President Joe Biden’s plan to forgive more student loan debt are on hold after two federal judges blocked it days before it was set to take effect.
This decision leaves former college graduates like Lexi Nowicki and Raymon Fretwell, who have been struggling since graduating to face the daunting task of repaying their debt.
“I am completely supporting myself right now, and it was just a really daunting bill to have, especially when rent, car payments, and everything are increasing by the year it seems,” Nowicki explained.
The blocked plan, known as the SAVE plan (Saving on a Valuable Education), aimed to delay or cancel about half a trillion dollars in debt. However, judges in Kansas and Missouri issued separate rulings halting much of the Biden administration’s plan to ease loan repayment programs for millions of borrowers.
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson was among several attorneys general who filed to stop the plan. He called the ruling “a huge win for South Carolina.”
“On policy grounds, I think the policy of the Biden administration to bail out student loans in terms of hundreds of billions of dollars is not only bad policy, it’s immoral. What you’re doing is you’re saddling taxpayers around the United States with bills they never incurred themselves,” Wilson said.
Wilson added, “We are incredibly pleased the federal court recognized that this preliminary injunction needed to be put into effect, which is going into effect the first of July, and we intend to see this thing all the way through.”
Recent grads like Fretwell, despite having decent jobs, find keeping up with payments in this economy unattainable.
“Even if I get a good 9-5 salary job getting 50K, I’ll still be paying off mostly debt and renting apartments for however long,” Fretwell said with a shrug.
However, the ruling will not unwind or take back elements of the plan that have already taken effect.
“These kinds of programs are just saving people from being in financial ruin from not being able to afford necessities like a roof or groceries. Really simple things that I don’t know if I could meet every month if I wasn’t approved for a plan like this,” Nowicki related.
Wilson emphasized the broader economic impact, saying, “You might, if the Biden administration is successful, get your student loan debt forgiven. But the price of everything else in your life is going to go up significantly because that’s how inflation works. So you’re going to pay one way or the other.”
The judges stated that the U.S. Education Secretary exceeded the authority granted by Congress over student loans. Meanwhile, the White House said it would continue to defend the program.
