High Country Times

Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) sent a letter today to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona criticizing the Biden-Harris administration for obstructing the Committee’s congressional oversight efforts regarding student loans. The letter follows the Committee’s subpoenas of five loan servicers.

The Biden-Harris administration’s Education Department claims it has the legal authority to review and approve any loan servicers’ materials before they can be submitted to the Committee. Foxx's letter argues that there is no legal authority for the Department to interfere with the Committee’s lawfully issued congressional subpoenas.

In her letter, Chairwoman Foxx states: “The Department has repeatedly sought to interfere with the Committee’s efforts to obtain documents and communications in a timely manner from the loan servicers. Not only has the Department interfered with the Committee’s ability to conduct oversight, but it has also failed to answer the Committee’s prior inquiry of August 14, 2024, seeking information about the timing of the Department’s regulation promoting additional student debt relief.”

The letter continues: “The Committee received a letter from Lisa Brown, the Department’s General Counsel, on September 5, 2024, contending that the loan servicers’ responses to the subpoenas ‘must receive prior approval from the Department’s contracting officer (or his or her designee).’ The letter cited a term in the loan servicers’ contracts with the Department as its legal authority to review and approve all responses prior to submission to Congress. However, a contract term does not override Article I of the U.S. Constitution, nor does a contract provide legal authority to interfere with or otherwise delay a third party’s mandatory response to a lawfully issued congressional subpoena. Under threats being leveled by the Department, the loan servicers did provide responsive documents to the Department for its review prior to the subpoena deadline of September 5, 2024, but none of these documents were ‘approved’ by that deadline. Now, fully 15 days later, still only a minimal number of documents or data have received ‘approval’ by the Department for submission to Congress. This is unacceptable and contrary to General Counsel Brown’s commitment to ‘expedite responses to subpoenas.’”

Background: On July 31, 2024, the Biden-Harris administration issued a press release announcing that it would “begin emailing all borrowers with at least one outstanding federally held student loan” about their eligibility for student debt relief under a rule that is “not yet finalized.” Borrowers were told they had until August 30 to “opt out” of this relief program. In response, Foxx wrote: “To my knowledge, no administration—Democrat or Republican—has ever taken such an aberrant approach to administering federal student aid as auto-enrolling people in a government program that does not yet exist.”

On August 14, 2024, given what she described as lack of fidelity to law by this action from Education department Chair Foxx sent Secretary Cardona another letter asking: “Will you guarantee that any rule concerning student loan repayment or debt relief published in Federal Register between now and end of President's current term will not take effect before statutory period elapses?”

On August 29, 2024 Committe issued subpoenas against Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority (MOHELA), Nelnet Servicing LLC Maximus dba Aidvantage Edfinancial Services Central Research Inc seeking documents related plans finalize student debt relief rule.

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