More than 60 Democratic lawmakers urged Education Secretary Linda McMahon on Sunday to cancel student debt for borrowers who qualify for existing relief programs and to stop the planned transfer of defaulted student-loan accounts to the Treasury Department.
The push targets borrowers covered by Public Service Loan Forgiveness, Total and Permanent Disability discharge and borrower defense to repayment, while also seeking faster processing of income-driven repayment applications. Lawmakers said the department should extend its pause on involuntary collections for defaulted borrowers and delay wage garnishment and benefit seizures, steps that could soon matter to millions of people already behind on payments.
At the center of the request is a growing default problem. The lawmakers said 7.7 million borrowers were in default at the end of 2025, with another 3 million delinquent, and warned that the administration’s student-loan overhaul could deepen the strain just as it takes effect on July 1. That date will bring new repayment plans and end SAVE, the Biden-era program that more than 7 million borrowers are expected to leave after a federal court ruling earlier this year.
The administration says the changes are meant to keep students connected to federal loans while limiting unmanageable debt. Nicholas Kent said the new policies will ensure students continue to have access to federal student loans while helping prevent borrowers from taking on debt levels they may never be able to repay. Democrats argue the opposite: that the changes are worsening the default crisis and leaving borrowers exposed just as collections are set to resume.
Elizabeth Warren, Jeff Merkley, Ayanna Pressley and André Carson led the push on Monday. Warren said the administration’s failure to address the default crisis has driven up Americans’ costs and hurt borrowers’ ability to access credit, and she said debt cancellation that borrowers are legally entitled to has been delayed and denied.
The immediate question is whether McMahon will slow the Treasury transfer, keep involuntary collections on hold or grant any of the cancellations lawmakers requested. If she does not, July 1 will arrive with the repayment system changing, SAVE ending and the default machinery moving back into place at the same time.
