Two  federal judges, in Missouri and Kansas, on Monday halted parts of President Joe Biden's new Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) student loan repayment plan, which was launched in 2023 and set to begin July 1.

The two court rulings, in response to lawsuits filed by state attorneys in Republican-led states, prohibit the Education Department from moving ahead with major provisions of the SAVE program, which was scheduled to take effect on July 1. Republicans have argued that the program far exceeds the administration's legal authority and that President Biden was overstepping his executive action without approval from Congress.

In the Missouri ruling, District Judge John Ross of the Eastern District blocked the Education Department from carrying out " any further loan forgiveness for borrowers" under the SAVE program until he decides the full case. He agreed that the program illegally deprives state loan operators of revenue. SAVE would harm Missouri, he said, because it would reduce the fees that the Education Department pays to the Missouri Higher Education Assistance Agency, the same entity at the center of the Supreme Court's case over Biden's first student debt relief program.