Ranking Member Cassidy Rebukes Biden Administration Attempt to Pass the Buck on Student Loan Return to Repayment Failures
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, rebuked the Biden administration attempt to shift the blame for its failure to properly return student loan borrowers to repayment onto student loan servicers and draw attention away from errors in the rollout of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
Even as student loan repayments resumed earlier last fall, the Biden administration has failed to provide clear and proper guidance to servicers. At Cassidy’s request, the Government Accountability Office is investigating the Department of Education’s (ED) lack of planning and communication with servicers and borrowers.
“The Biden administration is attempting to distract from its disastrous roll-out of FAFSA and terrible job preparing for return to repayment,” said Dr. Cassidy. “The Department of Education missed deadlines and was unable to provide timely and basic information the servicers need to do their job. Now they are blaming the crisis they created on the servicers they set up to fail.”
Last summer, Cassidy and U.S. Representative Virginia Foxx (R-NC), chairwoman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, requested an in-person briefing—to be conducted no later than July 20th, 2023—on the Biden administration’s plan to return millions of borrowers to repayment. After repeated stonewalling, ED finally briefed the lawmakers on borrowers’ return to repayment, but there were more questions than answers.
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