Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Today, Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Ranking Member Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) blasted Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and his staff for stonewalling multiple requests for a member-level briefing on the Biden administration’s plans to return student loan borrowers to repayment. The Members are now reviewing legal options to get answers for the American people.
 
“For more than two years this Department has known it will need to return 43 million borrowers to repayment and it is clear there is still no plan to accomplish that. It is sadly unsurprising that the tramplers of the Constitution at the Department continue repugnantly abdicating their responsibility to respond to Congress, further revealing their lack of respect for Congress and ultimately the borrowers they claim to care about." said Chairwoman Foxx. “Given the Department’s disgraceful, untransparent record, it is obvious that additional steps will be necessary to get answers for the American people, including subpoenas and depositions. I recommend Department staff clear their calendars.”
 
“This stonewalling is unacceptable. The Biden administration has had years to prepare for borrowers to return to repayment and are either refusing to show their plan or worse, they have no plan at all,” said Dr. Cassidy. “The Department doesn’t get to ignore their job and then escape accountability. Inaction by the Department will only harm the 43 million student loan borrowers they oversee.”
  
BACKGROUND: On June 27th, Foxx and Cassidy requested an in-person briefing—to be conducted no later than July 20, 2023—on the Biden administration’s plan to return millions of borrowers to repayment. In addition, both members requested materials relating to this meeting 10 days prior. The administration failed to comply with both requests.
 
Previously, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce transmitted a letter to Secretary Cardona over thirteen weeks ago asking a series of detailed questions about return to repayment and requested documents. It has received nothing but empty promises.