On Nov. 14, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in Missouri placed a nationwide injunction on President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, putting the plan on hold until a further ruling by the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court. 

The decision follows a Nov. 10 ruling by Texas U.S. District Court Judge Mark Pittman that deemed the plan unconstitutional and halted any further applications. 

As of early November, 26 million citizens had applied for loan forgiveness under President Biden’s relief plan, which, for qualified citizens, would cancel up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 for non-grant recipients. 

The Biden administration has pledged to continue fighting for the program.

“We are confident in our legal authority for the student debt relief program and believe it is necessary to help borrowers most in need as they recover from the pandemic,” said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, according to NBC. “The Administration will continue to fight these baseless lawsuits by Republican officials and special interests and will never stop fighting to support working and middle class Americans.”

The Department of Justice is appealing both decisions in the upper courts. In the meantime, the pause on the program has been extended to Jun. 30, 2023.