Supreme Court rejects Block of Biden’s forgiveness plans, so why is he still on pause?

The Supreme Court has now denied another summary motion to block federal student loan forgiveness. Since Biden’s initiative to scrap $10,000 in student loans for most borrowers (and up to $20,000 for those who received Pell Grants) was announced, six lawsuits have threatened the plan.

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On Nov. 1, Judge Amy Coney Barrett denied an attempt to block the program launched by the Pacific Legal Foundation on behalf of two Indiana borrowers, CNBC reported. The two plaintiffs alleged that if some debts were forgiven, they would be financially harmed because they would incur state taxes on the forgiven student loan debt. A similar request was denied on October 20.

Though these attempts have had little effect, student loan forgiveness is still on hold due to a challenge by six Republican-led states. The six states — Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina — claimed they lacked congressional approval for the government’s actions. CNBC reported that the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay and paused the program while it considered the appeal.

About 26 million Americans have applied for student loan forgiveness, and the Biden administration has approved 16 million of the applications, the White House said Nov. 3. Borrowers are still encouraged to apply for forgiveness.

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Abby Shafroth, director of the National Consumer Law Center’s Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project, told The Hill borrowers will soon have “a decision” from the Eighth Circuit. Legal experts also said the court’s decision could be crucial in determining whether the Biden administration can grant relief to federal student loan borrowers.

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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Student Loans: Supreme Court Rejects Block of Biden’s Forgiveness Plans, So Why Is It Still on Hold?