High Country Times

Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Ranking Member Bill Cassidy (R-LA) have spearheaded a bicameral letter signed by 129 Members of Congress. The letter, addressed to Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, urges the Department to withdraw its latest attempt to transfer student loan debt onto American taxpayers.

The Department’s proposed rule could cost Americans an additional $147 billion, increasing the total student loan debt transferred to taxpayers to as much as $1 trillion. The letter details the lawmakers' concerns: “The latest Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) proposed by your Department of Education (Department) on April 17, 2024, represents the latest in a string of reckless attempts to transfer as much as $1 trillion of student loan debt from those who willingly borrowed to those who did not or have already repaid their loans. We strongly urge you to withdraw it... at an estimated price tag of $147 billion, taxpayers are being forced to take on the debt of nearly 28 million borrowers.”

The members further criticize the administration for using borrowers as political pawns and argue that these proposed actions are illegal. They reference a Supreme Court ruling from June which declared there is no authority to write-off federal student loans en masse.

The letter concludes with a call for action: “Instead of exacerbating the problems of inflated college costs and low-value degrees, we urge you to withdraw this NPRM and work with Congress. It is past time that we fix our nation’s broken higher education financing system.”

Signatories include representatives from both houses including Reps. Allen, Armstrong, Babin, Bacon, Balderson among others and Sens. Barrasso, Blackburn, Britt, Braun, Budd among others.

To read the full letter click here.