Westbank Louisiana News

On August 14, 2024, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and U.S. Representative Virginia Foxx (R-NC), chairwoman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, responded to a new Government Accountability Office report indicating that as of January 2024, only 40 percent of student loan borrowers were making payments on their loans.

The Biden-Harris administration has since placed additional borrowers in forbearance, with 8 million more added in July alone. This move has further reduced the number of borrowers making payments on their debt.

To disincentivize borrowers from paying off their loans after student loan payments resumed last August, the Department of Education announced that borrowers would not be penalized or considered delinquent if they missed payments for up to a year. Borrowers who choose not to pay will still be charged interest on their unpaid loans and may be unaware that interest is accruing.

"The Biden-Harris administration is misleading these borrowers to win their vote while setting them up for failure," said Dr. Cassidy. "These borrowers are racking up interest with missed payments while waiting for the false promise of widespread debt 'cancellation' this administration has no legal authority to deliver."

Chairwoman Foxx echoed these sentiments: "To quote the Andy Griffith Show, 'surprise, surprise, surprise.' The majority of borrowers don’t believe they need to pay back the loans they knowingly took on... It’s past time for this administration to quit lying to the American public and focus on real solutions."

The report was requested by Cassidy and Foxx due to concerns over communication failures from the Biden-Harris administration regarding repayment transitions.

For further details on this issue or other updates from HELP Republicans, visit their website or Twitter at @GOPHELP.