(Reuters) - Two federal judges in Kansas and Missouri on Monday sided with several Republican-led states and partially blocked Democratic President Joe Biden's administration from moving forward with a key student debt relief initiative.
U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree in Wichita, Kansas, blocked the U.S. Department of Education from proceeding with parts of a plan set to take effect July 1 designed to lower monthly payments and speed up loan forgiveness for millions of Americans.
He ruled shortly before U.S. District Judge John Ross in St. Louis, Missouri, issued a preliminary injunction barring the department from granting further loan forgiveness under the administration's Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Leslie Adler)