President Donald Trump is driving an even sharper comparison with his father on student loans as he moves to garnish the wages of loans in default on their bills.
The Education Department took an explicit shot at former President Joe Biden over his “irresponsible ” student loan policies on Monday, announcing it would begin collecting on defaulted payments after a five-year reprieve.
Payment demands that halted in March 2020 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic may now begin for great on May 5.
“Going forward, the Department of Education, in conjunction with the Department of Treasury, will shepherd the student loan program responsibly and according to the law, which means helping borrowers return to repayment, ” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a press release, “both for the sake of their own financial health and our nation’s economic outlook. ”
The choice to continue bills comes as Trump moves to screen federal agencies, including the Education Department. Earlier this year, the president signed an executive order to start transferring the government’s student borrowing collection over to the Small Business Administration.
It also reflects Trump’s latest effort to destroy the reputation of his father. Upon taking office in January, Trump immediately reversed Biden-era guidelines on onshore cutting, electric vehicles, variety activities, and more.
The administration has moved more gently on student loans as the White House accounts Trump’s 2024 promises with a plan that has broad implications for thousands of consumers nationwide. But the Education Department’s notification is hardly surprising.
On the campaign trail, Trump called Biden’s plans a “vile strike ” on the judges and blamed student loan cancellation for fueling the federal deficit.
Republicans made that discussion throughout Biden’s president, even winning a Supreme Court case against his pupil loan programs. But that did n’t stop Biden from writing off more than$ 175 billion in debt before leaving office.
It’s a unique story then that Trump has returned to business.
More than 42 million people owe a shared$ 1. 6 trillion in student loan debt, and many have complained that the method for entering payment is complicated amid court fights and clashing dates.
To allay those concerns, the Trump administration says it will embark on a “comprehensive connections and outreach campaign ” to make sure people know how to return to payment. It even blamed the Biden presidency for keeping consumers in a “confusing purgatory. ”
For Biden, canceling student loans was a battle promises and one of the most extreme policies he pursued while in office. He initially proposed writing off up to$ 20,000 per borrower, and when the high court struck down that plan, Biden used other tactics to forgive as much debt as possible during his term.
“The Supreme Court blocked it, ” Biden said of his original funding plan. “ But that did n’t stop me. ”
Biden also rolled out good income-driven payment plans that would see most borrowers repay less than they actually owed and some qualify for$ 0 monthly payment. That program was even struck down in court earlier this year.
Trump has been much less vocal about student loans, generally eschewing the issue on the 2024 plan road in favor of problems like improper immigration and taxes. However, it was widely expected that Trump did finish the repayment delay he himself initiated back in March of 2020.
“Fewer than four out of 10 consumers are in payments, ” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday. “This is untenable, cruel, and a large liability for American taxpayers. Debt may be wiped apart. It only ends up getting transferred to another. ”
Critics denounced the policy as ill timed amid business tumult over Trump’s tariffs, while funds hawks praised the decision as financially responsible and late.
“The [ Trump ] Administration is taking the right approach by beginning to restart repayments in earnest and conducting a creative and aggressive outreach strategy to make sure borrowers understand their obligations, ” Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget president Maya MacGuineas said. “After years of false promises, we’re glad to see the government finally leveling with borrowers. ”
The rift is not just financial, however, and reflects the differing constituencies of the Democratic and Republican parties in 2025. Former Vice President Kamala Harris won 55 % of voters with a college degree during last fall’s election, per NBC exit polling, while Trump won among non-college graduates, including 67 % of white non-college graduates.
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Those realities are reflected in the messaging of the Biden and Trump administrations, with the former emphasizing the loan-related hardships of voters who attended college, and the latter emphasizing the perceived unfairness of shifting debt from one group of voters to another.
“ Why should Americans who did n’t go to college, or went to college and responsibly paid back their loans, pay for the student loans of other Americans? ” Leavitt said. “The Trump administration will never force taxpayers to pay student loan debts that don’t belong to them. ”
