WATCH LIVE: White House holds press conference as court puts Biden student loan cancellation on hold

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will hold a news conference on Friday, while a federal judge in Missouri on Thursday temporarily put President Joe Biden’s latest student loan cancellation plan on hold.

The event is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. EDT. Watch it in the player above.

Just when it briefly looked like the Biden administration had a window of opportunity to move forward with its plan, U.S. District Judge Matthew Schelp in Missouri issued an injunction blocking any sweeping cancellation.

Six Republican-led states sought the injunction hours earlier after a federal judge in Georgia decided not to extend a separate order blocking the plan.

The states, led by Missouri’s attorney general, urged Schelp to act quickly, saying the Education Department “could unlawfully cancel hundreds of billions of dollars in student loans en masse as early as Monday.” Schelp called it an easy decision.

The Education Ministry promised to defend its proposal in court.

“This lawsuit was filed by elected Republicans who made it clear that they will stop at nothing to prevent millions of their own constituents from getting relief on their student loans,” the department said in a statement.

Biden’s plan has been on hold since September, when states filed a lawsuit in Georgia saying Biden had exceeded his legal authority. But on Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge J. Randal Hall decided not to extend the pause after determining that Georgia does not have standing to sue in the case.
Hall dismissed Georgia from the case and referred it to Missouri, where Hall said there is “clear authority” to challenge Biden’s plan.

Supporters of student loan cancellation briefly had a glimmer of hope that the plan would be implemented — Hall’s order was set to expire after Thursday, allowing the Education Department to finalize the rule. But Schelps’ order put the question to rest.

“This is another victory for the American people,” Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said in a statement. “The court rightly recognized that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris cannot saddle working Americans with Ivy League debt.”

Biden’s plan would forgive at least some of their student loan debt for an estimated 30 million borrowers.

This would eliminate up to $20,000 in interest for those whose original balances have increased due to out-of-control interest rates. It would also provide relief for those who have been paying off their loans for 20 or 25 years and those who attended college programs where graduate debt is high relative to their income.