White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre held a news briefing Friday after the U.S. Supreme Court effectively killed President Joe Biden's $400 billion plan to cancel or reduce federal student loan debts for millions of Americans.
Watch the briefing in the player above.
The 6-3 decision, with conservative justices in the majority, said the Biden administration overstepped its authority with the plan, and it leaves borrowers on the hook for repayments that are expected to resume in the fall.
The Biden administration is moving forward on a new student debt relief plan, with Biden insisting Friday that "this fight is not over" and blaming Republican opposition for the demise of his original plan.
WATCH: Biden speaks after Supreme Court strikes down student loan relief plan
The plan would have helped the president keep a campaign promise and is seen as key to helping win over young voters in next year's presidential race — a vital demographic to his reelection bid.
The White House said Biden's chief of staff, Jeff Zients, has been holding meetings about once a week to prepare for the Supreme Court ruling, and administration officials also have met and spoken with dozens of advocates and allies in the congressional community, so they would have a fully formed response once the court had ruled.
Biden was briefed after Friday's ruling and met with senior staff to push ahead with an alternative plan given its implications, the White House said, without providing any details.
Students and activists outside the Supreme Court on Friday expressed their dismay at the high court's ruling.
Melissa Byrne, the founder of the advocacy group, 'We the 45 Million,' urged Biden to take renewed action to alleviate student debt.
"President Biden must cancel student loan debt, again, and he must ensure that there is no return to repayment until cancellations," Byrne told reporters.
Satra D. Taylor, with the Young Invincibles organization, national advocacy group to involve young adults in the political process, expressed her "faith" that Biden will honor his "promise of the 40 million borrowers that student loan cancellation will happen."
The court held that the administration needed Congress' endorsement before undertaking so costly a program. The majority rejected arguments that a bipartisan 2003 law dealing with national emergencies, known as the HEROES Act, gave Biden the power he claimed.
Loan repayments will resume in October, although interest will begin accruing in September, the Education Department has announced. Payments have been on hold since the start of the coronavirus pandemic more than three years ago.
READ MORE: Here's how to prepare to start paying back your student loans when the freeze ends
The forgiveness program would have canceled $10,000 in student loan debt for those making less than $125,000 or households with less than $250,000 in income. Pell Grant recipients, who typically demonstrate more financial need, would have had an additional $10,000 in debt forgiven.
Twenty-six million people had applied for relief and 43 million would have been eligible, the administration said. The cost was estimated at $400 billion over 30 years.
Advocacy groups supporting debt cancellation condemned the decision while demanding that Biden find another avenue to fulfill his promise of debt relief.