CNN
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President Joe Biden predicted Thursday that student loan borrowers will start receiving relief – which is currently on hold over a court challenge – within weeks, projecting confidence that his administration will win the challenge.
“We’re going to win that case. I think in the next two weeks you’re going to see those checks going out,” Biden told Nexstar’s Washington Correspondent Reshad Hudson.
The Biden administration started taking student debt forgiveness applications on October 14 and officials have said it could take weeks to process and grant relief.
Eligible borrowers won’t be receiving actual checks. Instead, they will see up to a $20,000 reduction in their student debt balances.
The Department of Education has told borrowers who are eligible for automatic debt relief, without filing an application, not to expect the debt cancellation before November 14.
A federal appeals court put a temporary hold on the administration’s student loan forgiveness program last week, which barred the government from canceling loans covered under the new policy while the court considers a challenge brought by six Republican-led states. The Biden administration is also facing lawsuits from Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, and conservative groups such as the Job Creators Network Foundation and the Cato Institute.
Biden’s student loan forgiveness program, first announced in August, aims to deliver debt relief to millions of borrowers before federal student loan payments resume in January after a nearly three-year, pandemic-related pause.
The President made his comments during an interview with local TV station network Nexstar Media during his visit to Syracuse, New York, to tout a new deal on semiconductor manufacturing. With less than two weeks until the midterm elections Biden took questions on the economy, his message to voters, and the stalled student debt relief program.