Attorneys representing Arkansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas and South Carolina filed an emergency motion late Thursday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit. Hours earlier, a federal district judge ruled that the states’ lawsuit lacked standing, while Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, appointed by former President Donald Trump, also declined to block the program.

Although the program had previously withstood Republican-led court challenges, the appeals court agreed on Friday to temporarily stop the Biden administration from discharging any debt until a ruling on an injunction challenging the legality of the program is completed.

Biden’s program would provide up to $20,000 in loan debt relief to over 40 million Americans who earn less than $125,000 per year. The president said during a speech at Delaware State University on Friday that 22 million borrowers had already applied to the program, calling the plan a “game changer” for those struggling with their debt.

Republicans have framed the program as an unfair government handout, claiming that it unjustly forces those who did not attend college or already paid off their loans to pay for the debt relief of others. The Congressional Budget Office estimated last month that the program could cost up to $400 billion. Borrowers in the states that sued have a combined estimated $104.1 billion in outstanding debt, according to the Education Data Initiative.

Biden blasted Republican criticism of the program during his speech on Friday, saying that their efforts to “do everything they can to deny this relief” was “hypocritical and wrong.” The president also argued that the courts were on his side and would not ultimately block the program.

“You know, they’ve been fighting us in the courts,” Biden said. “But just yesterday, a state court and the Supreme Court said, ‘No, we’re on Biden’s side.’ I will never apologize for helping working- and middle-class Americans.”

“I don’t want to hear it from MAGA Republican officials, who had hundreds of thousands of dollars of debts—even millions of dollars—in pandemic relief loans forgiven, who now are attacking me for helping working-class and middle-class Americans,” he added.

Friday’s ruling sets a Monday deadline for the government to respond to the states’ filing and a Thursday deadline for the states to respond to the government. The 8th Circuit is one of the most conservative federal appeals courts in the country, with only one of its 11 judges having been appointed by a Democrat.

Four of the court’s judges were appointed by Trump, who described the program as an “election enhancing money grab” that would be paid for by those “who are struggling the most,” in an August Truth Social post. The court is also overseen by Trump-appointed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who would consider any potential further appeals to the states’ case.

Newsweek has reached out to the White House for comment.

Update 10/21/22, 8:46 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information and background.