March 11, 2025

Wyden, Sanders Blast Trump Administration for Abruptly Freezing All Student Loan Repayment Programs

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., led 23 Democrats in sending a letter to the Department of Education blasting the Trump administration for abruptly freezing all income-driven student loan repayment programs, leaving Congress and the millions of working class borrowers in the dark. 

In their letter to Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Wyden and Sanders emphasized, “At a time when Americans across the country are struggling to meet the costs of healthcare, food, housing, child care and other basic needs, it is unacceptable for the Trump Administration to take any action that will increase costs or make life harder for everyday Americans.”

In their letter, Wyden and Sanders demanded answers on behalf of the more than 12 million loan borrowers who rely on income-driven repayment (IDR) plans as a way to pay back their student loans and also pay other bills, like rent, groceries, and child care. 

Gutting IDR plans would lead to millions of borrowers having fewer options to repay student loans and potentially forcing them to stack up debt for years to come. This would be lose-lose for lenders and borrowers alike.

The senators continued, “Without clear guidance on next steps, working class borrowers, including teachers, nurses, veterans and other public servants who rely on these plans, are in limbo. This most recent attack against student loan borrowers comes as President Trump and Republicans in Congress are pursuing an extremist right-wing agenda to gut affordable loan repayment options in order to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy.”

Borrowers are also struggling to afford their basic needs and enroll in other repayment options as a result of drastically changing circumstances, including thousands of federal employees who lost their job due to Elon Musk and DOGE lackeys' phony agenda to cut wasteful spending. Also, Trump and Republicans’ court challenges to student debt have resulted in many borrowers enrolled in the public service loan forgiveness (PSLF) program to be delayed or denied the promise of their loans to be forgiven. 

Joining Wyden and Sanders in the letter are Senators Peter Welch, D-Vt., Tina Smith, D-Minn., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., Tim Kaine, D-Va., Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Angus King, I-Maine, Jack Reed, D-R.I., Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., Mazie Hirono, D-Hawai’i, Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill, Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Andy Kim, D-N.J., Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Cory Booker, D-N.J., Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., Alex Padilla, D-Calif., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.

The text of the letter is here.

“The Trump administration’s choice to cut off access to affordable repayment options passed by Congress is cruel and will push millions of working families further into debt. To be clear, this is not what the 8th Circuit ordered and the Trump administration is using this ruling to inflict massive economic pain on millions of working families with student debt. We applaud Senators Wyden and Ranking Member Sanders and their colleagues for standing with borrowers and demanding that access to affordable repayment options be restored and that borrowers get the necessary information they need to stay on top of their student loan debt,” said Aissa Canchola Banez, Policy Director at Student Borrower Protection Center.

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