James Runcie, who led the Office of Federal Student Aid for the past seven years as chief operating officer, abruptly resigned from his position on Tuesday night.
FSA manages the federal government’s $1.2 trillion student loan portfolio and disburses Pell grants. Although it is housed within the Department of Education, FSA maintains some autonomy and flexibility as a federal performance-based organization.
In an email sent to his staff, obtained by the Washington Post, Runcie explained that his resignation was precipitated by conflicts with Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. According to Runcie’s email, DeVos had requested that Runcie testify before a House Oversight Committee hearing on improper payment of student loans on Thursday.
Runcie said that he declined to testify, stating that Jay Hurt, FSA chief financial officer, would be the appropriate person to comment on such matters. “In less dire circumstances, I would consider testifying as I have done on five previous occasions,” he wrote.
Runcie explained that new processes under DeVos’ leadership had constrained FSA’s ability to “deliver on its mission” and manage all of the activities that FSA is responsible for. Under DeVos, decisions that were previously made at the FSA level now required Department approval, which hindered FSA’s efficacy, in Runcie’s view.
“Once at the Department level, the decision making framework and process is not clear to anyone at FSA and the cycle time continues to increase risk for our work streams and stakeholders,” Runcie wrote.
In statement on Wednesday, House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz said that it was “disappointing” that Runcie had chosen to resign rather than testify before Congress.
