BURLINGTON, Vt., Aug. 19 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), alongside 10 Senate colleagues, sent a letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon expressing outrage over the Trump administration’s harmful decision to indefinitely pause student loan forgiveness under the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plan. The senators demanded clarity for the thousands of affected borrowers who have repaid their student loans for over 20 years and now face unnecessary financial harm.
Joining Sanders on the letter are Sens. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.).
“At a time when Americans across the country are struggling to meet the costs of health care, food, housing, child care and other basic needs, it is unacceptable for the Trump administration to take any action that delays or denies legally mandated debt relief to borrowers that have been in repayment for two decades or more,” wrote Sanders and the senators.
The Trump administration’s July decision to halt forgiveness for borrowers enrolled in the IBR plan — without notifying affected borrowers or members of Congress — will create unnecessary confusion for those who have diligently made payments for decades. Without relief or further guidance, student loan borrowers who qualified for forgiveness under existing law could be denied the assistance they have earned or face significant tax bills next year.
The Education Department has misled congressional offices and failed to provide a timeline for when student loan forgiveness is expected to resume. The IBR plan currently serves 3 million borrowers.
“The department should not require borrowers who have fulfilled their legal repayment obligations to continue paying with no guarantee or timeline for relief,” concluded Sanders and the senators.
This harmful action is part of a broader pattern of attacks on student loan borrowers by Republicans. In June, Republicans in Congress passed Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”, which would double student loan payments for the average borrower and increase college costs for working families across the country.
Read the letter here.