High Country Times

Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx has criticized the Biden-Harris administration's approach to student loan forgiveness, following a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. The report examines the administration's use of "borrower defense" as a means to forgive student loans.

Foxx stated, “When all you’ve got is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. For years, Democrat administrations have used illegal interpretations of the borrower defense law and other student loan schemes as tools to give the far left what it wants.” She added that the current administration is continuing what she views as government overreach initiated during the Obama-Biden era.

The GAO report was requested by Foxx in November 2016. It includes an audit of loans discharged under borrower defense to repayment by the U.S. Department of Education (ED). Findings indicate that as of April 30, 2024, $17.2 billion in federal student loans were discharged for 974,820 borrowers. Only one percent of applications were denied, and all approved applicants received full loan discharges. Between 1995 and 2015, few individuals applied for borrower defense, resulting in no dedicated staff for adjudicating these applications.

In response to changes made in 2015 by the Obama-Biden administration that increased borrower defense claims from 59 to over 300,000, Foxx expressed concern about unauthorized group loan discharges promoted without demonstrating financial harm.

Foxx has taken several actions related to this issue: In October 2023, she subpoenaed Secretary Miguel Cardona for documents on borrower defense; in May 2022, she urged the U.S. Department of Justice to address ED’s alleged abandonment of due process; and in September 2018, she wrote to then-Secretary Betsy DeVos about regulations exceeding legal scope.