(Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday canceled another $4.5 billion in student debt for over 60,000 borrowers, bringing the number of public service workers who have had their student loans cancelled to over 1 million.

In total, the Biden-Harris Administration has approved $175 billion in student debt relief for nearly 5 million borrowers through various actions, the White House said in a statement.

Republicans have described the Democratic president's student loan forgiveness approach as an overreach of authority and an unfair benefit to college-educated borrowers while others receive no such relief.

Earlier this month, St. Louis-based U.S. District Judge Matthew Schelp, an appointee of Republican former President Donald Trump, issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Biden administration from "mass canceling" student loans and forgiving principal or interest under the plan, pending the outcome of the state's lawsuit.