In August, President Biden and I announced our plan to provide one-time, pandemic-connected debt relief to over 40 million Americans with federal student loans.
Since making the application available, more than 26 million borrowers provided the information needed to be considered for debt relief. Already, the Department of Education has approved 16 million of those applications.

But lawsuits filed by Republican elected officials and special interests are challenging the program, stopping our ability to discharge debt and accept additional applications. We are confident in our legal authority to carry out this program, which is why the Department of Justice has asked the Supreme Court to lift the lower court’s injunction against the program and suggested that if the Court does not do so, it could take up this case.

As we continue to fight to provide debt relief for tens of millions of Americans, President Biden and I believe that it is unfair to ask tens of millions of borrowers to resume payments on their student debt when they would be eligible for relief– if not for these lawsuits. Therefore, we have extended the pause on student loan payments and collections.

The student loan payment pause is extended until 60 days after the Department is permitted to implement the debt relief program, or the litigation is resolved. If the program has not been implemented and the litigation has not been resolved by June 30, 2023, payments will resume 60 days after that. We will notify borrowers before payments restart.

I encourage you to visit StudentAid.gov to explore more affordable repayment options, other debt forgiveness programs, and more. The Biden-Harris administration is committed to help borrowers recover from the pandemic and provide working families with breathing room.

President Biden and I will never stop fighting for you.

Sincerely,

Miguel Cardona
U.S. Secretary of Education

Source: https://tinyurl.com/43m7v7dz