WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court won't allow student loan cancellations to begin, but will hear case in late winter.

— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) December 1, 2022

UPDATE from NBC News:

The Supreme Court on Thursday delayed a decision on whether to grant President Joe Biden’s bid to implement his student loan forgiveness plan, announcing instead that it will hear full oral arguments on an expedited basis.

In a brief order, the court said it would hear arguments in February with a decision soon to follow. In the meantime, the plan remains blocked.

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar filed an emergency application Nov. 18 on behalf of the Biden administration asking the justices to lift an injunction imposed by the St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In a separate case, a federal judge in Texas has also blocked the plan. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday refused to lift that hold, meaning that the administration could soon appeal that case to the Supreme Court too.

Prelogar said that the 8th Circuit’s decision “leaves millions of economically vulnerable borrowers in limbo, uncertain about the size of their debt and unable to make financial decisions with an accurate understanding of their future repayment obligations.”

[It would be blocked anyway, thanks to the ruling in Texas and the refusal to stay it in the Fifth Circuit. The refusal of the Supreme Court to stay this ruling indicates that they either don’t see a likelihood of the government prevailing, any irreparable harm in the delay, or both. — Ed]