A U.S. federal appeals court on Thursday blocked the implementation of President Joe Biden’s administration’s student debt relief plan.

TThe Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit suspended the remaining parts of the Savings on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan, which the Biden administration introduced last year to lower monthly student loan payments.

Education Minister Miguel Cardona said: “Today’s ruling from the 8th Circuit blocking President Biden’s SAVE plan could have devastating consequences for millions of students who owe student loans and are burdened with unaffordable monthly payments if the plan remains in effect.”

Last month, two federal judges in Kansas and Missouri temporarily halted parts of the SAVE plan after several Republican lawmakers argued that the Education Department had overstepped its authority by trying to continue forgiving the debt. student debt after the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the Biden administration’s plan to cancel student debt in June 2023.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said: “We cannot let Joe Biden saddle working families in Missouri with Ivy League debt. That is why we must continue this lawsuit. We are excited to fight to protect ourselves from this illegal redistribution of wealth.”

Under the Biden administration, the SAVE program raises the disposable income limit, lowers borrowers’ monthly payments and, for loans with an original balance of $12,000 or less, limits a borrower’s repayment period to 10 years (instead of 20 or 25) of qualifying payments. SAVE is intended to authorize more than $116 billion in targeted emergency assistance for 3.4 million student loan borrowers, including $39 billion for 804,000 borrowers by correcting historical inaccuracies in past payment counting systems, $45.7 billion for 662,000 public employees, and $10.5 billion for 491,000 borrowers with total and permanent disabilities.

Attorney General Elizabeth Preloger wrote in response to the recent court rulings:

Many have already received bills that reflect a reduction in monthly payments of up to 5% of their discretionary income. Many would be left in great confusion if they were told that their payments would have to be recalculated and that they would have to go into forbearance, which would delay any potential loan forgiveness.

Federal student loan payments and interest are suspended since March 2020, but they are expected to resume on September 1. A December 2022 congressional report estimates that the U.S. has about 43 million individual federal student borrowers. Collectively, those borrowers owe more than $1.6 trillion.