White House extends pause on student loan payments through next year

The Biden administration on Tuesday extended the pause on federal student loan repayments, saying it wanted to give the Supreme Court time to rule on litigation over President Biden’s plan to write off billions of dollars in debt. for millions of borrowers.

“The ruthless efforts to block student debt relief in court have caused enormous financial uncertainty for millions of borrowers,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said. “We are extending the payment pause because it would be deeply unfair to ask borrowers to pay debt that they would not have to pay, but for the baseless lawsuits brought by Republican officials and special interests.”

The Department of Education, which owns and manages the government’s $1.5 trillion student debt portfolio, said payments would not resume until 60 days after the department was legally authorized to proceed with the cancellation of the debt promised by Mr. Biden.

The ministry also said that if the courts did not resolve the issue by June 30, 2023, it would resume payments 60 days later.