Student Borrower Protection Center Leadership Call on President Biden to Extend Payment Pause, Use All Available Legal Tools to Cancel Student Debt for 40 Million Americans
November 10, 2022 | Washington, D.C. — A right-wing federal judge issued an order to halt President Biden’s plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for tens of millions of federal student loan borrowers. The judge, in this case, Trump-appointee Mark T. Pittman of Texas, sided with opponents of the President’s student debt relief plan in a lawsuit backed by conservative dark money group known as the Job Creators Network. The judge’s order does not affect the nearly three-year-long pause on student loan payments for 40 million Americans, which is slated to end on January 1st. The Administration can appeal this decision.
“Today, a federal judge conspired with right-wing politicians and corrupt corporations to block life-changing student debt relief for tens of millions of families,” said SBPC executive director Mike Pierce. “In courts across the country, dark money-backed legal challenges are growing like weeds. The Biden Administration must use this decision as an opportunity to make it clear that the student loan system will remain shut off as long as these partisan legal challenges persist. Student loan borrowers should never be sacrificed as pawns in Republicans’ political games.”
“The devastating result of this court’s decision today is that tens of millions of student loan borrowers across the country now have their vital debt relief blocked as a result of this farcical and fabricated legal claim,” said SBPC deputy executive director and managing counsel Persis Yu. “Today’s decision is a tragic reminder of the tightening grip that special interests have on our legal system. It is disappointing to see this judge pervert the law in order to achieve a politically motivated outcome. The Biden Administration cannot now resume payments on January 1st. It must use all of its tools to fight to ensure that borrowers receive the debt relief they need.”
A copy of the order signed by Judge Pittman in Brown v U.S. Department of Education is available here:
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txnd.368635/gov.uscourts.txnd.368635.37.0.pdf
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About Student Borrower Protection Center
The Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC) is a nonprofit organization focused on alleviating the burden of student debt for millions of Americans. The SBPC engages in advocacy, policymaking, and litigation strategy to rein in industry abuses, protect borrowers’ rights, and advance economic opportunity for the next generation of students.
Learn more at protectborrowers.org or follow SBPC on Twitter @theSBPC.