WASHINGTON – Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Rep. Keith Self (R-TX) in a letter to Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger are demanding an investigation into whether Education Secretary Miguel Cardona violated the Hatch Act.
In the letter, Foxx and Self write:“In recent communications to borrowers and the general public, paid for by taxpayers, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona blamed ‘Republican elected officials’ for stopping his illegal student loan repayment plan when it was stopped by the courts. [W]e encourage you to open an investigation into the activities of Secretary Cardona, as further detailed below, to determine whether he, or other U.S. Department of Education (Department) employees on his behalf, may have violated the Act.”
The letter continues:“[O]n or about July 12, 2024, Secretary Cardona emailed student loan borrowers from an account labeled ‘Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona noreply@studentaid.gov’ a message that appears to have been sent to aid the Democrat party and the Biden-Harris administration in the November 2024 elections. … Three times Secretary Cardona characterizes those challenging the Biden-Harris administration’s SAVE regulations as ‘Republican’ elected officials in an apparent effort to discredit them electorally. Moreover, the administration falsely contends Republicans are ‘siding with special interests,’ ‘trying to block Americans from accessing all the benefits of . . . the SAVE [plan],’ and ‘block[ing] borrowers from getting breathing room on their student loans.’”
The letter concludes:“These communications also raise the question of whether other employees in the Department who advised, drafted, or otherwise participated in the preparation of the email or the press release ran afoul of the Hatch Act. We encourage you to open an investigation to determine whether Secretary Cardona or any Department employees violated the Act.”
