While the student loan repayment pause, which was due to expire at year’s end, is being extended by the Biden administration into 2023, the promise of federal relief is still pending in court.

If litigation is unsuccessful, payments will resume after 60 days of the debt cancellation program has been implemented. Payments will resume after 60 days if the lawsuits have been resolved.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, federal student loan payments have been exempted from the responsibility of borrowers. Since then, the repayment pause has been extended numerous times. Biden’s Dec. 31 extension was not supposed to be the last.

The White House stated Tuesday’s extension will ease uncertainty for borrowers. It asked the Supreme Court to review lower court orders that had blocked Biden’s student loan relief program.

“I am confident that our student debt relief program is legal. It’s being held by Republican officials who want to stop it,” Biden tweeted. “That’s why Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona is extending the payment suspension to no later [60 days] after June 30, 2023. This gives the Supreme Court the time it needs to hear the case in its current form.”

Biden’s August announcement of his plan to reduce federal student loans for low-to middle-income borrowers up to $10,000 — and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients — was met quickly by Republican opposition.

Earlier this month, an Texas federal judge ruled that Biden’s program was illegal. However, the Department of Justice appealed the decision. In a separate case, six states sued Biden for claiming that financial institutions would be hurt if the borrowers did not have to pay outstanding amounts.

In the hope of moving the program forward, the Biden administration requested that the Supreme Court investigate the matter.

In a statementTuesday speech, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona described Republican attempts to block relief as “callous” or “just plain wrong.”

Cardona stated that he wanted borrowers to know that they are protected by the Biden-Harris Administration and that he is committed to fighting for student debt relief to millions of Americans.

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