近三年前，随着疫情迫使人们失业，企业倒闭，特朗普政府试图避免经济动荡，白宫官员决定暂时暂停所有学生贷款还款，不收取罚款和利息。
但这种暂时的停顿已经延续了八次，事实证明它比预想的要长久得多。如何走出停顿，已经成为一个充满政治意味的话题本周登陆最高法院。
美国总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)在2020年竞选期间曾承诺免除每个借款人高达1万美元的债务，并在越来越大的压力下兑现承诺和解除付款暂停，最终在8月底宣布他将这样做。
该计划是因为疫情遭受的经济困难而调用紧急权力，并免除所有收入低于125，000美元或已婚夫妇收入低于250，000美元的借款人的10，000美元学生债务，并免除上学期间还获得佩尔助学金的借款人高达20，000美元的债务。(佩尔助学金是政府为低收入家庭发放的小额助学金。)
白宫表示，高达95%的借款人将被取消部分债务。
在某种程度上，白宫将其标榜为胡萝卜，以缓解美国人重新偿还贷款的压力，他们已经免除了近三年的贷款。教育部官员引用数据称，在过去的自然灾害之后，借款人违约率上升了20倍，认为疫情之后的债务减免应该避免拖欠和违约出现历史上的大幅增长。
但是一个月后，来自反对债务减免的保守团体的诉讼开始占据上风，并削弱了该计划。
九月下旬，六个共和党州就该计划起诉教育部:阿肯色州、爱荷华州、堪萨斯州、密苏里州、内布拉斯加州和南卡罗来纳州。总检察长认为，这超出了政府的权限，不公平地排除了那些不会获得债务减免或从未获得贷款的美国人，主要是，某些贷款服务机构将因此而损失收入。保守的就业创造者网络基金会在德克萨斯州提起的另一起诉讼也将目标对准了该计划。
拜登当时正处于中期选举的竞选活动中，他坚持认为该计划是合法的，并将取得成功。与此同时，数百万美国人通过教育部网站申请减免，证明了它的受欢迎程度。
“我一宣布我的政府关于学生债务的计划，他们就开始攻击它，说了各种各样的话。他们的愤怒是错误的，是虚伪的，”拜登在10月特拉华州立大学的一次集会上谈到共和党人时说。“我们不会让他们得逞的。”
“我完全相信我的计划是合法的，”拜登11月下旬在推特上的一段视频中重申。
但是，虽然早期反对该计划的法庭案件因缺乏起诉权而被驳回，也就是说，因为缺乏某人或某个实体表明他们受到了伤害，但共和党随后的挑战更加成功。
第八巡回上诉法院的三名共和党任命的法官同意共和党的观点，即密苏里州将受到损害，因为如果债务被取消，一家名为MOHELA的管理学生贷款的州立公司将会亏损。律师们认为，如果拜登的学生贷款计划减少了MOHELA的收入，那么它将削减密苏里州自己的公立学院和大学的预算。
债务减免的申请在11月中旬不久后被关闭，尽管白宫和法律专家认为，反对该计划的人仍然没有法律地位，即使他们在政治上不同意该计划，因为MOHELA与密苏里州没有密切联系。
在申请关闭一周后，拜登政府将这一论点提交给了最高法院。
到那时，已经有2，600万借款人提出申请，1，600万借款人被批准取消，但没有任何债务减免得到解除。
辩论定于2月28日，时间表加快。
在政府为该案做准备之际，拜登宣布了第八次也是最后一次延期付款，向借款人保证，在该计划的命运决定之前，不会再次开始付款，而不是按原计划在1月1日开始。
现在，学生贷款的支付有望在最高法院发布关于救助计划的决定后60天，或6月30日之后60天恢复，以先到者为准。
2022年10月17日，乔·拜登总统在华盛顿白宫综合大楼南法庭礼堂离开关于学生债务减免门户测试的活动时，回答了教育部长米格尔·卡多纳的问题。
苏珊·沃尔什/美联社，档案
时间表
2020年3月20日
前总统唐纳德·特朗普宣布首次联邦授权暂停学生贷款支付60天(暂停追溯到3月13日)。
2021就职典礼
上任后，乔·拜登总统指示教育部将暂停联邦学生贷款偿还延长至当年9月。
2022年8月24日
在近三年总共七次暂停之后，拜登宣布全面免除4000多万美国人的学生贷款，并将暂停期限延长至12月31日。
9月27日
第一个挑战学生债务减免计划的诉讼是在印第安纳州提起的，但是后来因为缺乏法律地位而被驳回。
9月29日
六个共和党领导的州起诉拜登政府。与此同时，教育部在其studentaid.gov网站上更新了关于谁有资格获得债务减免的指导，以支持该计划应对日益增长的法律挑战。
十月十日
倾向保守的就业创造者网络基金会对德克萨斯州政府提起诉讼。
十月十四日
教育部在studentaid.gov大学发布了学生债务减免申请的测试版。借款人开始在网上申请。
十月二十一日
第八巡回上诉法院决定暂时阻止学生债务减免计划，迫使教育部在该计划的命运得到更彻底的审查并在法庭上做出决定之前，不得向数百万申请人提供任何债务减免。人们可以继续申请。
11月3日
政府宣布，在该计划的前三周，已有2600万借款人申请债务减免。在这些申请者中，有1600万人被批准免除债务。
十一月十日
德克萨斯州的一名联邦法官阻止了该项目，裁定该项目超出了教育部和行政部门的权限。教育部不再被允许接受债务减免申请。
十一月十一日
教育部网站停止接受学生债务减免申请。
十一月十八日
拜登政府向最高法院提交文件，推翻第八巡回上诉法院对学生债务减免计划的“搁置”。
十一月二十二日
随着法律挑战的增加，债务减免计划陷入困境，以及12月31日付款暂停期限的临近，拜登政府再次延长了暂停期限。这一次，直到2023年6月30日之后的60天，或者最高法院对该计划的命运作出决定之后的60天(以先到者为准)。
12月1日
最高法院宣布将在即将到来的会议中听取关于该计划命运的口头辩论。拜登诉内布拉斯加州案。这六个州都是共和党领导的。
十二月十二日
最高法院宣布，它还将听取由就业创造者网络基金会提出的挑战的口头辩论。
1月4日
政府向最高法院提交了学生债务减免计划的辩护。法院将听取共和党领导的六个州和就业创造者网络基金会反对该计划的论点。
1月11日
一个学生债务减免倡导团体联盟提交了支持总统计划的法庭之友简报。
2月3日
来自美国众议院和参议院的170多名共和党议员提交了他们自己的法庭之友简报，反对该计划。
2月28日
最高法院听取来自政府、六个共和党领导的州和就业创造者网络基金会的辩论。
How Biden's student debt relief plan landed before the Supreme Court: Timeline
Nearly three years ago, as the pandemic forced people from jobs, businesses shuttered and the Trump administration attempted to stave off economic turmoil, White House officials made the decision to temporarily pause all student loan repayments without penalty and accruing interest.
But that temporary pause, which has been extended eight times since, has proven to be far more permanent than intended. And how to move forward out of the pause has become such a politically fraught topic that it willland at the Supreme Court this week.
President Joe Biden, who campaigned on forgiving up to $10,000 per borrower during his 2020 campaign, and was under growing pressure to both deliver on his promise and lift the payment pause, in late August finally announced that he would do so.
The plan was to invoke emergency powers because of economic hardship endured from the pandemic and forgive $10,000 in student debt for all borrowers who made less than $125,000, or $250,000 as a married couple, and up to $20,000 for borrowers who had also received Pell grants while they were in school. (A Pell grant is a small government grant for low-income families.)
Up to 95% of borrowers would have some amount of debt canceled, the White House said.
In part, the White House billed it as a carrot to ease Americans back into loan repayments that they'd been exempt from for nearly three years. Department of Education officials cited data that borrower default rates have gone up twenty-fold following natural disasters in the past, arguing that the debt relief after the pandemic was supposed to avoid a historically large increase in delinquency and defaults.
But a month later, lawsuits from conservative groups that opposed debt relief started taking hold -- and chipping away at the program.
In late September, a cohort of six Republican states sued the Department of Education for the plan: Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina. The attorneys general argued that it exceeded the administration's authority, unfairly excluded Americans who won't receive debt relief or never took out loans and, chiefly, that certain loan servicers would lose revenue because of it. Another court case in Texas, brought by the conservative Job Creators Network Foundation, also took aim at the plan.
Biden, who was in the midst of campaigning for the midterm elections, maintained that the program was legal and would prevail. At the same time, millions of Americans applied for the relief through the Department of Education's website, proving its popularity.
"As soon as I announced my administration's plan on student debt, they started attacking it, saying all kinds of things. Their outrage is wrong and it's hypocritical," Biden said about Republicans at an October rally at Delaware State University. "We're not letting them get away with it."
"I'm completely confident my plan is legal," Biden reiterated in a video on Twitter in late November.
But while early court cases against the program were thrown out for lack of standing -- that is, for lack of someone or some entity showing they were harmed by it -- the subsequent challenges from the GOP were more successful.
Three Republican-appointed judges on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the GOP argument that Missouri would be harmed because a state-created company called MOHELA, which manages student loans, would lose money if debts were canceled. The attorneys argued that if Biden's student loan program decreased revenue for MOHELA, it would then cut into Missouri's own budget for public colleges and universities.
The application for debt relief was shut down shortly after, in mid-November -- despite confidence from the White House and legal experts who argued that there was still no legal standing for those who opposed the plan, even if they disagreed with it politically, because MOHELA wasn't strongly tied to the state of Missouri.
The Biden administration brought that argument to the Supreme Court a week after the application shut down.
By that point, 26 million borrowers had already applied and 16 million were approved for cancellation, but no debt relief had been discharged.
Arguments were set for Feb. 28, on an expedited timeline.
As the administration prepared for the case, Biden announced the eighth and final extension of the payment pause, reassuring borrowers that payments would not begin again until the fate of the program is decided, rather than on Jan. 1, as originally planned.
Student loan payments are now expected to resume either 60 days after the Supreme Court issues a decision on the relief program, or 60 days after June 30 -- whichever comes first.
Timeline
March 20, 2020
Former President Donald Trump announces the first federally mandated pause on student loan payments for 60 days (the pause started retroactively on March 13).
Inauguration 2021
After taking office, President Joe Biden directs the Department of Education to extend the pause on federal student loan repayments through September of that year.
Aug. 24, 2022
After a total of seven pauses over nearly three years, Biden announces sweeping student loan forgiveness for over 40 million Americans and extends the moratorium until December 31.
Sept. 27
The first lawsuit to challenge the student debt relief plan is filed in Indiana, but is later thrown out for a lack of standing.
Sept. 29
Six Republican-led states sue the Biden administration. Meanwhile, the Department of Education updates guidance on its studentaid.gov site on who qualifies for debt relief to shore the plan up against growing legal challenges.
Oct. 10
The conservative-leaning Job Creators Network Foundation files a lawsuit against the administration in Texas.
Oct. 14
The education department releases a "beta" version of the student debt relief application at studentaid.gov. Borrowers start to apply online.
Oct. 21
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals decides to temporarily block the student debt relief plan, forcing the Department of Education not to discharge any debt relief to the millions of applicants until the fate of the program is more thoroughly reviewed and decided in court. People can continue to apply.
Nov. 3
The administration announces that 26 million borrowers have applied for debt relief in the first three weeks of the program. Of those applicants, 16 million have been approved for debt cancellation.
Nov. 10
A federal judge in Texas blocks the program, ruling that it goes beyond the authority of the education department and the power of the executive branch. The Department of Education is no longer allowed to accept applications for debt relief.
Nov. 11
The education department's website stops accepting student debt relief applications.
Nov. 18
The Biden administration files with the Supreme Court to overturn the "stay" on the student debt relief plan in the Eighth Circuit Court of appeals.
Nov. 22
As the legal challenges mount, putting the debt relief plan in jeopardy, and the payment pause deadline of Dec. 31 nears, the Biden administration extends the moratorium again. This time, until 60 days after June 30, 2023, or 60 days after the Supreme Court's decision on the fate of the program (whichever comes first).
Dec. 1
The Supreme Court announces it will hear oral arguments on the fate of the program in its upcoming session. Biden v. Nebraska, et. all will feature the six GOP-led states.
Dec. 12
The Supreme Court announces it will also hear oral arguments in the challenge brought by the Job Creators Network Foundation.
Jan. 4
The administration files a defense of its student debt relief plan with the Supreme Court. The court will hear arguments in opposition of the program from both the six GOP-led states and the Job Creators Network Foundation.
Jan. 11
A coalition of student debt relief advocacy groups file amicus briefs in support of the president's plan.
Feb. 3
More than 170 Republican lawmakers from the U.S. House and Senate file amicus briefs of their own in opposition to the program.
Feb. 28
The Supreme Court hears arguments from the administration, the six GOP-led states and the Job Creators Network Foundation.
