The DOJ filed a defense to the Supreme Court.
The case will be argued on February 28.
The legality of loan forgiveness was not in question.
The full legal defense of the student-loan forgiveness was filed by the Biden administration Wednesday night.
The Justice Department filed a brief to the Supreme Court in support of Biden's plan to eliminate student debt for people with low incomes.
The Supreme Court is going to hear arguments on February 28 on the two lawsuits that have stopped the debt relief.
Six Republican-led states have filed a lawsuit saying the relief would hurt their state's tax revenues. Two student-loan borrowers sued because they didn't qualify for the full $20,000 of relief.
The authority the education secretary has to waive or modify student-loan balances under the HEROES Act of 2003 has been used by the Biden administration many times.
The relief was legal according to the Justice Department.
The filing said that the lower courts' orders deprived the Secretary of his statutory authority and left millions of economically vulnerable borrowers in limbo.
According to a person familiar with the legal filing, the purpose of the relief was to address the economic effects of the swine flu. It's still legal for borrowers to recover from financial strains even if a national emergency doesn't exist anymore.
The debt relief idea was pushed back by the administration. The company has denied involvement in the lawsuit, but the GOP-led states still argue loan forgiveness would affect revenue. The Justice Department does not believe that harm to the state should be considered alongside harm to the state.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments before the Justice Department gives a response to the case. It is only a matter of time before the litigation plays out.
Even if the lawsuits are not resolved before the end of the year, student loan payments are expected to resume this year.
The Education Department remains confident in its legal authority to adopt this program that will ensure the financial harms caused by the Pandemic don't drive borrowers into delinquency and default.
He said that they were committed to helping borrowers recover from the Pandemic and providing working families with the breathing room they needed to prepare for student loan payments to resume.
Student loan payments and interests will be paused until the Supreme Court resolves the case because it would be unjust to ask borrowers to pay debt they don't have to pay.
Business Insider has an article on it.
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