The Biden administration announced Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022, extending the student debt moratorium for millions of Americans through June.
“I’m confident our student debt relief plan is legal, but it’s on hold because Republicans want to block it”the Democratic president tweeted. “For this reason (the Minister of Education) is extending the suspension of the monthly payments until 30 June 2023, the date on which the Cassation will examine the file”He added.
In late August, Joe Biden announced the federal government was canceling part of America’s colossal student debt, up to $10,000 or even $20,000 per borrower as the case may be. The total cost of this project is estimated at $400 billion and it was announced just before the midterm elections.
A disputed decision
But the measure was challenged in court, and last week a federal appeals court asked the administration to withhold all payments pending a decision on the merits. The federal government appealed the decision to the Supreme Court.
The Biden administration had announced, with this debt cancellation, an extension “the final”until the end of December 2022, of a debt payment freeze, a measure linked to the Covid-19 pandemic that has benefited about 40 million Americans since the Democrat came to power in early 2021.
But, with the legal battle for the partial cancellation of the debt, some, while entitled, would have had to resume payments in January, which would have been “profoundly unfair”denounced Education Minister Miguel Cardona in a press release.
Some 26 million people have already applied for this debt relief, the ministry added.
