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A federal judge has allowed President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness plan to proceed after letting a temporary restraining order on the plan expire. The lawsuit, brought in September by seven Republican-led states, aimed to halt the implementation of the plan, which could provide relief to millions of borrowers. The states argued that the mass cancellation of student debt would harm state finances.
However, U.S. District Judge Randall Hall ruled that Georgia, one of the states involved in the lawsuit, lacked standing to challenge the plan as it failed to show an injury that is concrete, particularized, actual, or imminent. The case has now been transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
The Biden administration's plan, first unveiled last summer, aims to provide targeted student loan forgiveness to four distinct groups. The Education Department estimates that 25 million borrowers could benefit under one provision of the program alone, with millions more possibly qualifying for student loan forgiveness under other provisions of the program. The final version of the rules for the program is expected to be released sometime in October. The ruling gives the Biden administration a temporary victory, opening the door to the possibility that this new loan forgiveness program could move forward.