Virginia Foxx - Chairwoman of the Education and the Workforce committee | Official U.S. House headshot
Virginia Foxx - Chairwoman of the Education and the Workforce committee | Official U.S. House headshot
Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Ranking Member Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), issued statements today regarding a new Government Accountability Office report. The report indicates that as of January 2024, only 40 percent of student loan borrowers were making payments on their loans. In response, the Biden-Harris administration placed additional borrowers in forbearance, with 8 million more added in July.
This action has reduced the number of borrowers making payments on their debt, which the administration continues to shift onto taxpayers. Furthermore, the Department of Education announced that borrowers will not be penalized or considered delinquent if they miss payments for up to a year after student loan payments resumed last August. This policy extends any consequences for missed payments beyond the November election.
Borrowers who choose not to pay will still incur interest on their unpaid loans and may be unaware that this interest is accruing. Chairwoman Foxx criticized this approach: “To quote the Andy Griffith Show, ‘surprise, surprise, surprise.’ The majority of borrowers don’t believe they need to pay back the loans they knowingly took on, and who can blame them after years of false hope and illegal schemes from the Biden-Harris administration? It’s past time for this administration to quit lying to the American public and focus on real solutions to deal with the cost of postsecondary education.”
Dr. Cassidy echoed these sentiments: “The Biden-Harris administration is misleading these borrowers to win their vote while setting them up for failure. These borrowers are racking up interest with missed payments while waiting for the false promise of widespread debt ‘cancellation’ this administration has no legal authority to deliver.” He further stated that this approach transfers debt onto those who did not attend college or have already paid off their education.
Foxx and Cassidy requested this report due to concerns over communication failures by the Biden-Harris administration regarding repayment transitions.
Click here for the full report.
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