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The Biden administration's student loan forgiveness plan remains on hold, after the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals – the second federal appeals court – denied a request from the federal government to temporarily reverse a lower-court order that blocked rollout of the plan.
A three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based appeals court on Wednesday rejected the request in a brief order, which means the plan will remain on hold while the administration appeals a decision from a Texas judge that declared the debt relief proposal unlawful.
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The Biden administration will now turn to the US Supreme Court to seek a reversal of the 5th Circuit's decision, according to a court filing from the government in a separate legal challenge to the plan. The White House had no immediate comment on Wednesday's ruling.
Court orders across multiple lawsuits have blocked the distribution of any debt relief under the plan since late October. The government has ceased collecting applications for relief while the legal battles over the proposal proceed.
Wednesday's order comes in a case brought by the Job Creators Network Foundation, a conservative advocacy group, on behalf of two Texas borrowers who claim that their education debt was unfairly excluded from the program.
Related: Biden's student-loan relief raises issues for employers
In a separate lawsuit, six GOP-led states are asking the Supreme Court to keep the plan on hold while their legal challenge proceeds. State officials argue that the president overstepped his executive authority by authorizing the program without congressional approval and that it will negatively impact local loan servicers.
The student loan plan, which was announced in August, would forgive as much as $20,000 in federal student loans for eligible borrowers making less than $125,000 per year or $250,000 for households. About 26 million people had requested forgiveness before the Department of Education stopped accepting applications.
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