A recent markup in the House Committee on Education and Labor provided a glimpse into the partisan divide emerging on President Biden’s debt forgiveness plan.  The markup was focused on three pieces of legislation, two of which deal with higher education and were introduced by Ranking Member Virginia Foxx (R-NC).  While all legislative initiatives were reported unfavorably to the House Floor, they foreshadow the likely political maneuverings expected to take place on the President’s plan.

The two pieces of legislation that had potential implications for higher education were: 

•    H.Res. 1295 – a bill requesting the Secretary to disclose to the Committee information regarding the waiver for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program that ends on October 31 and the benefits offered to borrowers though changes to the income-driven repayment (IDR) plans; and 
•    H.Res.1296 – a bill requesting the Secretary to disclose all documents relating to the legal authority to forgive federal student loans. 

Rep. Foxx indicated in her opening statement the importance of federal government oversight. She stressed how critical it was for the Department to be transparent in the cost estimates for the PSLF waiver and IDR account adjustments.  She also stated that the Biden Administration should be forthcoming with all cost estimates instead of trying to hide them from taxpayers. 

Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA) articulated that the Committee Democrats take oversight responsibility very seriously and have held 16 oversight hearings during the current Congress, including hearings with the Secretary, the Undersecretary of the Department of Education, and the Chief Operating Officer of the Office of Federal Student Aid. He went on to say that Republicans have indeed received responses from the Administration and should not claim that the Committee is not conducting proper oversight simply because they may not like the answers that they have received. 

The resolutions introduced by Rep. Foxx are in line with a recent letter sent to the Committee Democrats regarding the need for oversight. They also are in line with a recent letter to the White House Counsel, Stuart Delery, requesting information to determine whether the Administration’s political appointees have a conflict of interest and whether they, or their family members, are poised to benefit from student loan forgiveness.