Eleven Senate Democrats are demanding immediate answers from Education Secretary Linda McMahon after the Trump administration quietly suspended student loan forgiveness under the Income-Based Repayment program in July, leaving millions of borrowers in limbo despite having fulfilled their legal repayment obligations.
Senator Bernie Sanders
The senators said the administration's decision comes at a time when families are already struggling with rising costs for healthcare, housing, childcare and other basic necessities.
"It is unacceptable for the Trump administration to take any action that delays or denies legally mandated debt relief to borrowers that have been in repayment for over two decades or more," the senators wrote to McMahon.
The suspension has raised serious questions about the Education Department's transparency and credibility with Congress. According to the letter, department staff told congressional committee staff on July 17 that loan discharges were still ongoing under IBR and that forgiveness was being actively processed. However, public reports emerged just five days later that the department had suspended the program earlier in July.
The department has cited a court injunction against the SAVE regulation as justification for the pause, but senators noted that injunction has been in place for months, making the sudden suspension in July difficult to explain.
"It is unclear how that information could be accurate given that just a few days later, it was publicly reported that the department had paused forgiveness earlier in July — several days prior to the briefing provided to Congress," the senators wrote.
