Rule restricting debt relief rejected by Senate
WASHINGTON >> In a bipartisan rebuke, the Senate voted Wednesday to overturn a major Trump administration rule that would sharply limit debt relief for students misled by schools that lured them in with false claims about their graduates’ career and earning prospects.
In a 53-42 vote that included 10 Republicans, the Senate easily struck down a revised Education Department rule finalized in September by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
The House passed a companion resolution in January. The legislation will now go to President Donald Trump, who will decide whether to uphold the rule with a veto or side with Congress over his own education secretary.
He has told Senate Republicans he is “neutral” on repealing the rule, though he has yet to comment on his veto intentions.
DeVos’ rule was one of several efforts to rewrite Obama-era debt relief measures, which allow students who attended schools that committed serious fraud to request that their loan debts be forgiven.
DeVos’ changes raised the bar for borrowers’ relief claims, requiring applicants to individually prove that a school knowingly misled them and that they were financially harmed by the deception. It also set a three-year deadline on claims.
In a statement, the Education Department said its rule protected community colleges, historically black colleges and universities, and taxpayers “from undue harm from the poorly written Obama-era regulation.”
“It’s disappointing to see so many in Congress fooled by misinformation from the left and the fake news narrative about our efforts to protect students from fraud,” said Angela L. Morabito, a spokeswoman for the department. “Students, including veterans, who are defrauded by their school and suffer financial harm as a result deserve relief, and our rule provides them relief.”
Critics said those changes would effectively kill the program by imposing requirements that almost no borrowers would be able to meet.
Democrats emphasized the harm from the rule to veterans bilked out of GI Bill benefits, a critical move that brought on Republicans.
DeVos’ changes “made it extremely difficult for these students to get any relief,” Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., the minority whip, who led the effort in the Senate, said Wednesday. “The students are up in arms over it, and I’m joining them.”