Appeals court blocks Biden's student debt relief SAVE Plan

• Lower court rulings had already hindered other parts of the SAVE Plan.

Context: The Republican-led states of Missouri, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Dakota, Ohio and Oklahoma sued Biden and his administration for "trying to impose an extraordinarily expensive and controversial policy," per an April complaint.

• Biden's income-driven repayment plan launched in August as payments were set to resume after a years-long pandemic pause.

Zoom out: Two federal judges in Kansas and Missouri temporarily halted parts of SAVE in June, CNBC reported.

• Specifically, they targeted lower monthly payments and quicker debt erasure for people with small balances.

The latest: The order came the same day as the administration canceled $1.2 billion in student debt for 35,000 public service workers.

• In total, it has now forgiven $168.5 billion for 4.76 million borrowers.

What's next: Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in an emailed statement on Thursday evening that borrowers enrolled in the SAVE Plan "will be placed in an interest-free forbearance while our Administration continues to vigorously defend the SAVE Plan in court."

• The administration will be in touch with borrowers affected by the ruling, a Department of Education spokesperson said in an earlier statement to Axios.
• "Our administration will continue to aggressively defend the SAVE Plan," the spokesperson said.

Go deeper: Biden administration cancels another $1.2B in student debt

Editor's note: This article has been updated with comment from Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.