The US Supreme Court Monday granted certiorari to hear a second challenge to President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan. The court asked the parties to brief and argue whether the borrowers suing to block the program have Article III standing, and whether the Department of Education’s (DOE) plan is “statutorily authorized and was adopted in a procedurally proper manner.”

The federal government requested that the court stay a ruling by the District Court for the Northern District of Texas that vacated the student loan forgiveness program. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a similar appeal on November 30 but urged the Supreme Court to hear the matter. The district court found that the DOE’s $400 billion program did not have clear congressional authority.

The decision to grant certiorari comes 11 days after the Court granted certiorari in a separate challenge to the program. In that case, six Republican-led states argued that the program violated the separation of powers and the Administrative Procedure Act. In its application to the Supreme Court to vacate the injunction handed down by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal government argued that the states lacked standing and that the program was legal on its merits. The Supreme Court will hear both cases together, with oral arguments beginning in February 2023.

On November 22, Biden extended the student loan repayment pause until June 30, 2023. Applications for the loan forgiveness program are still closed pending a decision.