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Foxx to ED: You Don’t Have the Authority

Education and Labor Committee Republican Leader Virginia Foxx (R-NC) recently submitted a comment letter to the Department of Education urging the Department to rescind its proposed rule regarding borrower defense to repayment and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. The letter also points out the Department does not have the authority to move forward with these changes.

In the letter, Foxx writes: “The Department of Education’s (Department) continued disregard for Congress and the American taxpayer is wholly unacceptable. … Allowing only 30 days for the public to comment on a rule of such magnitude is beyond the pale, and also inconsistent with the President Clinton’s Executive Order 12866, which calls for a 60-day comment period for rules with such a high price tag.”

“In this case, the Department lacks a clear authorization from Congress. The enabling statutes for the changes being made do not give the Department a clear authorization to make changes of this magnitude, or to spend $85.1 billion without Congressional approval,” Foxx continues. “Rather than work with Congress, the Department, through this NPRM, brazenly seeks to enact Democrats’ wish list of policies through executive fiat. This is especially true for the two most costly provisions of the NPRM—the changes to borrower defense and PSLF programs.”

Foxx concludes: “The Department simply does not have the authority to create a convoluted and costly framework that Congress did not authorize.”

Read the full letter here.

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