Republicans are dealing a 'devastating blow' to student-loan borrowers through a funding proposal that could 'severely' strain customer service support, Biden's administration says

  • House Republicans proposed a spending bill that would cut funding for student aid administration.

  • If passed, the legislation would further strain customer service as borrowers navigate repayment.

  • The Office of Management and Budget said Biden would veto the bill.

President Joe Biden's administration made clear Biden would not sign Republicans' funding proposals for education and labor in the upcoming fiscal year. That hasn't stopped those lawmakers from introducing new ways to slash those agencies' funding.

On Tuesday, the Office of Management and Budget released a statement "strongly" opposing the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, affirming that Biden will veto the bill if it makes it to his desk.

"This bill is counter to everything America stands for; its 28 percent cut of $64 billion will rob our children of the quality education they deserve and eliminate present and future opportunities for Americans in all stages of life," the OMB wrote in its statement. "It jeopardizes maternal, pediatric, and public health while purposefully undermining the safety, wellbeing, and prosperity of our Nation."

With regards to the budget for student loans in particular, the GOP plan would cut Federal Student Aid's funding by $265 million below its current level and $884 million below what Biden requested from Congress, further straining resources as borrowers struggle to navigate the return to repayment after an over three-year pause.

The OMB said that those spending cuts "would deal a devastating blow to borrowers and the supports they need to successfully navigate repayment. Borrower communications and call center support would be severely curtailed and possibly eliminated, leaving students and parents without help when they have questions or issues related to their loans."

As Insider previously reported, a detailed report from the GOP on the education funding bill included a range of provisions that prohibited funding for relief programs for borrowers like the new SAVE income-driven repayment plan. While Speaker of the House Mike Johnson's legislation to avoid a government shutdown includes language to allow the Education Department more flexibility to reallocate its budget toward loan servicing, it falls short of Biden's request to boost funding for the agency to help facilitated an unprecedented return to repayment.

On top of the proposed funding cuts, Republican lawmakers proposed a range of amendments to the spending bill that would place even greater stress on borrowers and the Education Department. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Mary Miller, for example, put forth an amendment on Monday that would reduce the education secretary's salary to $1.

And Rep. Andy Biggs proposed an amendment that would strike funding to the student aid administration, which oversees everything surrounding student-loan repayment, the staffing of call centers, and distributing loans.

The House is voting on the GOP amendments on Tuesday, prior to a vote on Johnson's government funding bill which would keep the Education Department funded through February 2.

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