The Department of Justice asked the Supreme Court on Friday to pause four cases now that a new attorney general and solicitor general will head the department.

The Trump Justice Department may reverse positions from the Biden administration in cases dealing with for-profit schools and some environmental regulations.

The request to pause the proceedings comes as new agency heads enter office and review the prior administration’s policies, rules and regulations.

In a filing Friday, Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris asked the justices to pause deadlines in a case recently granted review that deals with a federal rule for for-profit schools and was aimed at easing the process for borrowers to challenge loan repayments.

The Department of Education issued a rule in 2022 under former President Joseph R. Biden that aimed to streamline a review process for borrowers who claimed they could not repay their loans because they were defrauded or their for-profit schools closed. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked implementation of the rule.

Career Colleges & Schools of Texas, which initially challenged the rule with more than a dozen other trade schools, said the Education Department’s rule would cause irreparable harm to smaller institutions.

“After the change in Administration, the Acting Secretary of Education has determined that the Department should reassess the basis for and soundness of the Department’s borrower defense regulations,” Ms. Harris wrote in her filing.

The case is Department of Education v. Career Colleges and Schools of Texas.

The acting solicitor general also asked the high court to pause proceedings in three other cases dealing with policies out of the Environmental Protection Agency.

In Diamond Alternative Energy v. Environmental Protection Agency, the court was looking at a dispute over new motor vehicle emissions.

The EPA also wants time to assess a dispute involving states’ plans to deal with ozone pollution across state lines in Pacificorp v. Environmental Protection Agency, and evaluate a renewable fuel standards program that was challenged by small refineries in Environmental Protection Agency v. Calumet Shreveport Refining.

It is typical for requests like these to be made and cases paused when a change of administration from a Democrat to a Republican, or vice versa, takes place in order to give the new agency leaders time to review regulations and potentially reverse course.

• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.