Those who default or refuse to pay their federal student loans could have their wages, federal pensions and tax refunds garnished, the White House said Tuesday.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters in her weekly briefing that the Trump administration will go after those who don’t repay the loans instead of placing the burden on taxpayers.
“The government can and will collect defaulted federal student loan debt by withholding money from borrowers, tax refunds, federal pensions and even their wages,” she said.
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The Department of Education on Monday said it would resume collections on defaulted federal student loans in May for the first time since 2020. The student loan portfolio is nearly $1.6 trillion, Leavitt said, with fewer than four out of ten borrowers up to speed with their loans.
Altogether, the official said that there are 4 million borrowers who are in the late-stage delinquency stage on payments, meaning that they are between 91 days and 180 days late on payments.
“This is unsustainable, unfair and a huge liability for American taxpayers. Debt cannot be wiped away. It just ends up getting transferred to others,” she said. “So why should Americans who didn’t go to college, or went to college and responsibly paid back their loans, pay for the student loans of other Americans? The Trump administration will never force taxpayers to pay student loan debts that don’t belong to them.”
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In a few months, there could be almost 10 million people in default, the Education Department said.
The Biden administration attempted to bail out millions of student loan borrowers, but was blocked in some instances.
“American taxpayers will no longer be forced to serve as collateral for irresponsible student loan policies,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “The Biden Administration misled borrowers: the executive branch does not have the constitutional authority to wipe debt away, nor do the loan balances simply disappear. Hundreds of billions have already been transferred to taxpayers.”
The Trump administration has long said that taxpayers shouldn’t foot the bill for trillions of dollars in student debt.
“We must get our fiscal house in order and restore common sense to our country,” Leavitt said. “If you take out a loan, you have to pay it back. It’s very simple. President Trump will not kick the can down the road anymore.”
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