Republican policies have pushed record numbers of borrowers into default and delinquency

“[T]his devastating increase in past due payments threatens not only individual borrowers but the broader economy.” 

Text of Letter (PDF)

WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), a member of the House Financial Services Committee, and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs led 70 members of Congress in a letter calling on the Trump administration to address the ongoing and unprecedented wave of student loan delinquencies and defaults, which threatens the financial stability of millions of people and could have disastrous effects on the American economy.

Recent data suggests that over 5 million student borrowers are likely in default, and almost a third of borrowers are delinquent. This “default cliff” threatens the broader economy by suppressing consumer spending and locking families out of housing and other financial opportunities as their credit scores plummet.

“Every day this Administration fails to act, more borrowers—especially low-income, Black, and brown borrowers—are pushed closer to financial catastrophe,” said Congresswoman Pressley. “This isn’t just a policy failure—it’s a moral one. If Trump and Republicans truly cared about working families and following through on their promises to lower costs, they would act now before it’s too late.”

“If the administration fails to act, millions of Americans will be pushed to financial ruin, and Trump and Republicans will own this economic catastrophe. It’s time for Secretary McMahon to focus on commonsense solutions, instead of hiking costs for families at every turn,” commented Senator Warren. 

Rather than address this problem, the Trump Administration has used the powers of the federal government to deepen the crisis. For instance, since January, the Trump administration has fired over half of ED’s staff, including workers at Federal Student Aid (FSA) who are responsible for resolving problems with student loan repayment. The administration has also created a backlog of nearly 1.1 million unprocessed income-driven repayment (IDR) applications, taking away borrowers’ access to affordable monthly payments that would significantly drop borrowers’ risks of default. 

“[T]his default cliff threatens not only individual financial hardship but also has broader economic implications that warrant immediate intervention and mitigation strategies,” wrote the lawmakers. 

The coalition urged the Trump administration to take the following steps to address the default cliff: 

• Clear the nearly 1.1 million borrower backlog of IDR applications and abandon its plans to mass deny nearly 500,000 IDR applications; 
• Create an interest-free temporary default prevention forbearance to protect borrowers who cannot afford their monthly payments; 
• Reverse all recent decisions that have increased costs for borrowers and raised the likelihood that they enter default or delinquency; 
• Begin a strong outreach campaign, in coordination with members of Congress and key stakeholders, to borrowers who are at risk of entering default or who do enter default; and 
• Pause the forced collections process until the above steps have been implemented and until the Education Department implements robust guardrails against predatory and illegal collections practices.

“The student loan default crisis is a significant threat to millions of American families and the broader economy. Congress and the Administration have a responsibility to ensure that federal student loan programs support rather than undermine economic opportunity and stability,” concluded the lawmakers. 

The coalition requested that, in order to inform their legislative responsibilities regarding the federal student loan system and the functioning of the Education Department, the Department provide answers to the lawmakers’ questions by October 28, 2025, including what steps it is taking to protect against and address the rise in federal student loan delinquencies and defaults. 

“Instead of bringing down costs, President Trump and Secretary McMahon are working double time to push millions of struggling borrowers off of an unprecedented default cliff that will be economically disastrous for families and the broader economy,” said Protect Borrowers Policy Director, Aissa Canchola Bañez. “Americans with student loan debt deserve an Administration that protects borrower rights and ensures that student loan borrowers get the relief they are entitled to under the law. The last ten months have demonstrated that the Trump Administration cares more about lining the pockets of their wealthy friends rather than shielding working families from economic ruin. We applaud Senator Warren, Representative Pressley, and their colleagues for holding the Trump Administration accountable and calling on them to take action to protect borrowers and their families from the largest mass student loan default events in modern history.”

Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), along with Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) joined in signing the letter. 

Representatives Alma Adams (D-N.C.), Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), Becca Balint (D-Vt.), Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.), Julia Brownley (D-Calif.), André Carson (D-Ind.), Greg Casar (D-Texas), Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Gil Cisneros (D-Calif.), Yvette Clark (D-N.Y.), Emmanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), Danny Davis (D-Ill.), Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Dwight Evans (D-Pa.), Cleo Fields (D-La.), John Garamendi (D-Calif.), Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.), Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Summer Lee (D-Pa.), Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.), Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Emily Randall (D-Wash.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Luz Rivas (D-Calif.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Terri Sewell (D-Ala.), Lateefah Simon (D-Calif.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), and Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) also joined in signing the letter. 

A copy of the text of the letter can be found here.

Rep. Pressley has been a leading voice in Congress urging President Biden to cancel student debt. Following years of advocacy by Rep. Pressley—in partnership with colleagues, borrowers, and advocates—the Biden-Harris Administration announced a historic plan to cancel student debt that stands to benefit over 40 million people. She has consistently helped borrowers access student debt cancellation resources, including PSLF, and she was proud to welcome a union educator and PSLF recipient as her guest to President Biden’s State of the Union Address in March.

• On May 14, 2025, Rep. Pressley reintroduced the Ending Admirative Wage Garnishment Act, alongside Senators Warren and Booker, to suspend garnishments for student loan borrowers.
• On October 18, 2024, Rep. Pressley applauded the Biden-Harris Administration’s approval of approximately $4.5 billion in additional student debt cancellation for approximately 60,000 workers nationwide who work in public service.
• On October 2, 2024, Rep. Pressley joined borrowers and advocates to unveil new state-by-state data quantifying the harm that Project 2025 would have on millions of public service workers nationwide.
• On September 10, 2024, Rep. Pressley joined Senator Warren and Rep. Jim Clyburn in urging the U.S. Department of Education to consider terminating its contract with student loan servicer MOHELA.
• On August 29, Rep. Pressley issued a statement following the Supreme Court’s refusal to reinstate President Biden’s Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) student debt relief program.
• On August 9, 2024, Rep. Pressley joined Senator Warren, Representative Dean, and their colleagues urging student loan servicer Navient to reform its flawed process to cancel the private student loans of borrowers who attended fraudulent, for-profit colleges.
• On June 25, 2024, Rep. Pressley issued a statement on federal judges in Missouri and Kansas siding with Republican states to block portions of President Biden’s Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) student debt relief program. 
• On June 25, 2024, Rep. Pressley colleagues, borrowers, and advocates urged the Biden Administration to terminate the contract of federal student loan servicer MOHELA. Their calls follow MOHELA’s repeated failure to perform basic loan servicing functions and ongoing harm caused by MOHELA to student loan borrowers.
• On May 20, 2024, Rep. Pressley, along with Reps. Omar, Clyburn and Wilson, led their colleagues in urging the U.S. Department of Education to ensure its proposed student debt relief rule is implemented in the most effective and efficient manner possible for millions of borrowers.
• On May 1, 2024, Rep. Pressley issued a statement applauding the Biden Administration’s approval of student loan discharge for 317,000 borrowers who attended The Art Institutes, including over 3,500 borrowers in Massachusetts.
• On April 14, 2024, Rep. Pressley applauded President Biden’s approval of an additional $7.4 billion in student debt cancellation for 277,000 borrowers.
• On April 8, 2024, Rep. Pressley hailed President Biden’s announcement of new plans to provide student debt relief for tens of millions of borrowers across the country.
• On March 21, 2024, Rep. Pressley applauded the Biden-Harris Administration’s approval of $5.8 billion in additional student loan debt cancellation for 77,700 public service workers.
• On March 20, 2024, Rep. Pressley and Senator Elizabeth Warren led their colleagues in calling on federal agencies to end the practice of offsetting Social Security benefits to pay off defaulted student loans.
• On March 7, 2024, Rep. Pressley welcomed Priscilla Higuera Valentine, a first generation American, a proud union educator with Boston Public Schools and the Boston Teachers Union, and the daughter of a Colombian immigrant, who has received over $117,000 in student debt relief under the Biden-Harris Administration’s improved Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program, as her guest to President Biden’s State of the Union Address.
• On February 23, 2024, Rep. Pressley applauded the Biden-Harris Administration’s approval of $1.2 billion in student debt cancellation for nearly 153,000 borrowers nationwide, including $19.5 million in cancellation for 2,490 Massachusetts borrowers.
• On January 26, 2024, Rep. Pressley and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) led their colleagues in calling on the Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to host a fourth session of the student debt negotiated rulemaking to consider relief for borrowers experiencing financial hardship. She applauded ED’s announcement that it would heed their calls.
• On December 11, 2023, Rep. Pressley testified at the U.S. Department of Education’s final hearing on student debt cancellation.
• On December 11, 2023, Rep. Pressley and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), along with Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), and Representatives Ilhan Omar (MN-05) and Frederica Wilson (FL-24), sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, urging him to leverage his existing and full authority under the Higher Education Act to provide expanded student debt relief to working and middle-class borrowers. 
• On November 30, 2023, Rep. Pressley emphasized the crucial role of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in protecting student loan borrowers from incompetent and predatory student loan servicers.
• On November 6, 2023, Rep. Pressley joined Attorney General Andrea Campbell, Mayor Michelle Wu, and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) for a clinic to help federal student loan borrowers access a temporary opportunity to get closer to Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). 
• On September 25, 2023, Rep. Pressley hosted a policy discussion with borrowers and advocates at which they renewed their urgent call for student debt cancellation with loan payments set to resume on October 1, 2023.
• On August 23, 2023, Rep. Pressley, Sen. Warren, and their colleagues led over 80 lawmakers in a letter to President Joe Biden, urging him to swiftly deliver on his promise to deliver student debt cancellation to working and middle class families by early 2024. 
• On August 22, 2023 Rep. Pressley applauded Governor Maura Healey’s plan to provide student debt relief for health care workers in Massachusetts. 
• On June 30, 2023, Rep. Pressley responded to the President’s alternative proposal to deliver relief under the Higher Education Act and called for swift and efficient implementation.
• On June 30, 2023, Rep. Pressley issued a statement slamming the Supreme Court’s decision to block President Biden’s student debt cancellation plan and calling on the President to use other tools available to swiftly cancel student debt.
• On May 30, 2023, Rep. Pressley filed an amendment to H.R. 3746, legislation to raise the debt ceiling, to protect student loan borrowers and preserve the Biden Administration’s pause on federal student loan payments.
• On May 24, 2023, Rep. Pressley issued a statement slamming Republicans’ harmful effort to overturn President Biden’s student debt relief, including his debt cancellation plan, the pause on student loan payments, and the expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program.
• On May 24, 2023, Rep. Pressley delivered a powerful speech in support of President Biden’s plan to cancel student debt, which would benefit millions of people across the country.
• On April 5, 2023, Rep. Pressley and Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote to the CEO of SoFi Technologies and SoFi Lending Corp calling on the company to answer for its lawsuits attempting to end the student loan payment pause and force borrowers back into repayment.
• On March 7, 2023, Rep. Pressley, along with Sens. Warren, Schumer, Sanders, Padilla and Reps. Clyburn, Omar and Wilson led a letter to the Biden Administration expressing continued support for President Biden’s student debt relief plan.
• On February 28, 2023, Rep. Pressley rallied with borrowers and advocates outside the Supreme Court to call on the Supreme Court to affirm the legality of President Biden’s student debt cancellation plan.
• On November 22, 2022, Rep. Pressley issued a statement applauding the extension of the student loan payment pause.
• On October 25, 2022, Rep. Pressley and Senator Warren toured communities across Massachusetts to celebrate the Biden administration’s student debt cancellation plan and help residents sign up for student loan relief.
• On October 12, 2022, Rep. Pressley joined parent borrowers and advocates for a discussion on the impacts of student debt cancellation on parents and families.
• On September 29, 2022, Rep. Pressley, along with Senate Majority Leader Schumer and Reps. Omar, Jones and advocates, held a press conference to call for swift and equitable implementation of President Biden’s student debt cancellation plan.
• On September 21, 2022, Rep. Pressley delivered a powerful speech on the House floor in which she heralded President Biden’s action to cancel student debt for millions of families in the Massachusetts 7th and across the nation. Watch the full video here.
• On September 12, 2022, Rep. Pressley and Senator Warren wrote to the nine federal student loan servicers to inquire about how they are providing borrowers with accurate and timely information about student loan cancellation.
• On August 24, 2022, Congresswoman Pressley issued a statement applauding President Biden’s action to cancel student debt.
• On August 10, 2022, Congresswoman Pressley and Senator Warren Massachusetts joined Massachusetts union leaders in Dorchester for a roundtable discussion on student debt cancellation.
• On July 18, 2022, Congresswoman Pressley delivered remarks at the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) national convention and renewed her calls for President Biden to cancel student debt by executive action.
• On July 8, 2022, Congresswoman Pressley with The Debt Collective hosted a virtual roundtable with student debt holders from all walks of life to highlight the intersectional burden the nearly $2 trillion student debt crisis has had on individuals and families. 
• On June 22, 2022, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, with Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, joined AFL-CIO and union leaders for a roundtable discussion on the importance of student debt cancellation for American workers.
• On May 20, 2022, Congresswoman Pressley applauded the Congressional Black Caucus’ (CBC) statement calling on President Biden to cancel student loan debt.
• On May 4, 2022, Congresswoman Pressley visited Bunker Hill Community College to celebrate the $1 million in federal community project funding she secured and continued her calls for President Biden to cancel student debt.
• On March 17, 2022, Congresswoman Pressley and Arisha Hatch, vice president and chief of campaigns at Color of Change, published an op-ed in Grio calling on President Biden to use his executive order authority to cancel up to $50,000 in student loan debt per borrower.
• On December 8, 2021, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer sent a bicameral letter to President Joe Biden releasing new data about the adverse impact of restarting student loan payments and calling on him to act to cancel up to $50,000 of student debt.
• On December 2, 2021, Congresswoman Pressley delivered remarks on the House floor in which she reiterated her calls for President Biden to cancel $50,000 in federal student loan debt by executive action.
• On October 8, 2021, Representatives Ayanna Pressley and Ilhan Omar and their House colleagues sent a letter to President Biden and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona urging him to release the memo to determine the extent of the administration’s authority to broadly cancel student debt through administrative action.
• On July 29, 2021, Congresswoman Pressley issued a statement reaffirming President Biden’s authority – and the urgency – to cancel student loan debt.
• On June 23, 2021, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Congressman Joe Courtney led their colleagues on a bicameral letter to President Biden calling on him to extend the pause on federal student loan payments.
• On April 13, 2021, Congresswoman Pressley testified at a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Economic Policy hearing to examine the student loan debt crisis in our country.
• On April 1, 2021, Congresswoman Pressley, along with Senator Elizabeth Warren and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, held a press conference calling on President Biden to tackle the student loan debt crisis.
• On February 4, 2021, Congresswoman Pressley, along with several Democratic House and Senate leaders, led their colleagues in reintroducing a bicameral resolution outlining a bold plan for President Biden to tackle the student loan debt crisis. 
• On December 17, 2020, Representatives Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, Maxine Waters, and Alma Adams introduced a resolution outlining a bold plan for President-elect Joe Biden to cancel up to $50,000 in Federal student loan debt for student loan borrowers.
• On December 10, 2020, Congresswoman Pressley was in Yahoo Finance urging the Biden administration to cancel student debt, stressing the impact on Black borrowers.
• On May 8, 2020, Representatives Ayanna Pressley, Alma Adams, and Ilhan Omar, led 28 of their colleagues and sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy calling for the universal, one-time, student debt cancellation of at least $30,000 per borrower in the next round of COVID-19 relief legislation.
• On March 23, 2020, Representatives Ayanna Pressley and Ilhan Omar introduced the Student Debt Emergency Relief Act, legislation that provides immediate monthly payment relief for federal student loan borrowers.
• On March 17, 2020, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and Senator Elizabeth Warren were on The Hill calling on congressional leadership to include student debt cancellation in the next coronavirus relief package.
• On October 11, 2019, Congresswoman Pressley introduced legislation – the Ending Debt Collection Harassment Act – to protect consumers from abusive debt collection.
• On July 17, 2019, Congresswomen Pressley introduced legislation – the Student Borrower Credit Improvement Act – to provide much needed support to private student loan borrowers with a pathway to financial stability by helping them improve their credit.

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