Amy Coney Barrett Hits Brakes on Attempt to Stop Biden Loan Relief

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett on Friday declined an attempt to block President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness plan.

The case was filed by the conservative nonprofit legal organization Pacific Legal Foundation, which is representing two Indiana-based lawyers and borrowers, Frank Garrison and Noel Johnson, Reuters reported.

Barrett is in charge of handling such cases that are issued within the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes Indiana.

The program, which was announced in August, will cancel up to $20,000 in student loan debt per borrower. For those making less than $125,000 or households with less than $250,000 in income, the plan would cancel $10,000 in student loan debt. Pell Grant recipients will get an additional $10,000 in debt forgiven, totaling up to $20,000.

The implementation of Biden's student loan forgiveness plan has been paused as it undergoes a challenge from six Republican-led states, according to Reuters.

Johnson and Garrison argued that Biden's plan violates the Constitution and federal law, partially because it bypasses Congress, which they said has the authority to create laws related to student loan relief.

They needed to demonstrate that they had a strong legal position to sue by showing how they are harmed by Biden's program. Therefore, they alleged in their lawsuit that they would be negatively impacted if some of their student loans were forgiven because they would then have to deal with increased state income tax liability in Indiana and at least five other states, according to NBC News.

After the two Indiana lawyers filed the initial lawsuit, the Department of Education created an option for borrowers to opt out of the program if they don't wish to have their student loans forgiven, according to Reuters.

The Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on October 28 declined to block the student loan relief plan during the time Johnson and Garrison sought an appeal, noting that the plaintiffs don't have a legal standing because they could just avoid tax liability by opting out of the program, Reuters reported.

Barrett denied a similar emergency request, on October 20, filed by a group of Wisconsin taxpayers, according to CBS News. The emergency request was filed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, representing the Brown County Taxpayers Association.

Last month, Biden said some 22 million people have already signed up for student loan relief since the program was launched on October 17.

Biden previously condemned GOP lawmakers who criticized his student loan relief plan, saying that Republicans are "doing everything they can to deny this relief, even to their own constituents." Biden called the outrage among the GOP "wrong and hypocritical" and added, "We're not letting them get away with it."

Newsweek reached out to Pacific Legal Foundation's communications office for comment.