Education Department to pause SAVE student loan payments amid legal battle [Video]

The U.S. Department of Education says it will pause millions of student loan borrowers’ payments while it defends its relief plan against legal challenges.

Borrowers enrolled in the Biden administration’s new repayment program, known as SAVE, will be placed “in an interest-free forbearance,” according to a statement from U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.

A federal appeals court in Missouri issued a ruling on Thursday blocking the entire plan, which the White House says roughly 8 million people are enrolled in.

Lawsuits by Republican-led states, including Arkansas, Florida and Missouri, argue that the Biden administration overstepped its authority with SAVE, or Saving on a Valuable Education, and essentially was trying to find a roundabout way to forgive student debt after the Supreme Court blocked its sweeping plan in June 2023.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a Republican, wrote Thursday on X that the ruling against SAVE was a “HUGE win for every …