Student loan repayment pause extended through June 2023 by White House

The White House on Tuesday announced that it is extending the pause on student loan repayments through June 30, 2023.

The big picture: The latest extension comes as the Biden administration's student loan forgiveness plan remains in legal limbo. The pause on repayments had been set to expire in December.

• The Biden administration last week asked the Supreme Court to lift a lower court ruling that blocked the program — its latest attempt to revive it.
• A federal appeals court earlier last week blocked Biden's program, after a federal judge in Texas also blocked the plan.
• Some 43 million student borrowers eligible for relief are as a result stuck in financial uncertainty as litigation proceeds.

What they're saying: "I'm completely confident my plan is legal," Biden said in a video on Tuesday announcing the student loan repayment pause.

• "But right now it's on hold because of these lawsuits. We're not going to back down though on our fight to give families breathing room."
• "But it isn't fair to ask tens of millions of borrowers eligible for relief to resume their student debt payments while the courts consider the lawsuit."

Of note: Biden said the June extension timeline "would give the Supreme Court an opportunity to hear the case in its current term."

State of play: Biden in August announced his plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 for individual borrowers who make under $125,000 per year.

• The Department of Education has begun alerting student loan forgiveness applicants that they have been approved for relief under plan.
• As litigation plays out, the department pulled the relief application offline after millions of borrowers had already signed up.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional details.