A federal judge in Kansas has blocked the full implementation of a student debt relief program that was set to go into effect next month.

U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Crabtree on Monday ordered a preliminary injunction blocking the U.S. Department of Education and secretary Miguel Cardona from implementing the portions of the Saving on a Valuable Education Plan that were set to take effect July 1. The injunction applies nationwide.

“This Order does not decide whether student loan forgiveness is good policy or bad policy,” Crabtree wrote, ruling from the federal court in Kansas City, Kansas. “The popularly elected branches of our government — the President and the Congress — properly control that decision. Thus, no one should read this Order to take a position on that question because our Constitution doesn’t assign any part of it to the federal courts.”

Crabtree declined to enjoin the entire SAVE Plan, noting that some parts have already been implemented and requiring the government to unwind those actions could affect about 153,000 borrowers who had their debts erased in February prior to the filing of the lawsuit.

Crabtree wrote that, “At this point, a preliminary injunction that would enjoin the entire SAVE Plan would create pointless uncertainty.”

“The court is mindful of the gravity of this ruling,” he wrote. “Drawing the legal conclusions leading to it required the court to apply a developing legal doctrine to complex legislative and regulatory terrain. And all on a limited evidentiary record.”

The same day, a federal judge in Missouri issued a similar ruling in a separate case against the SAVE Plan.

“We strongly disagree with today’s rulings on our SAVE Plan and the Department of Justice will continue to vigorously defend the SAVE Plan,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

More: What will happen to Joe Biden’s student debt SAVE plan? What to know about Kansas lawsuit.

Crabtree ruled that while President Joe Biden’s administration offered a “plausible interpretation” of federal law that could authorize the student debt relief program, the SAVE Plan was not clearly authorized by Congress. He wrote that “it’s a close and difficult question.”

He emphasized that the injunction is preliminary and expressed a desire for “a schedule that will enable the court to reach a final decision … as soon as practicable.” He delayed his order from going into effect until 10 p.m. June 30 to allow the parties to appeal the decision.

“Kansas’s victory today is a victory for the entire country,” Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach said in a statement. “As the court correctly held, whether to forgive billions of dollars of student debt is a major question that only Congress can answer. Biden’s administration is attempting to usurp Congress’s authority. This is not only unconstitutional, it’s unfair. Blue collar Kansas workers who didn’t go to college shouldn’t have to pay off the student loans of New Yorkers with gender studies degrees.”

While Kansas was the original lead plaintiff in the lawsuit filed by Kobach, Crabtree previously dismissed Kansas and several other states from the lawsuit because he found that they lacked standing to sue. The remaining plaintiffs in the Kansas are Alaska, South Carolina and Texas.

“It’s unfortunate,” Jean-Pierre said, “that Republican elected officials and their allies have fought tooth and nail to prevent their constituents from accessing lower payments and a faster path to debt forgiveness — and that courts are now rejecting authority that the Department has applied repeatedly for decades to improve income-driven repayment plans.”

More: Kansas dismissed from Kris Kobach-led lawsuit on Joe Biden’s SAVE student debt relief plan

Jason Alatidd is a Statehouse reporter for The Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jalatidd@gannett.com. Follow him on X @Jason_Alatidd.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas judge blocks Joe Biden student debt relief SAVE Plan nationwide