Senator Murray Statement on President Trump’s Veto of Bipartisan Congressional Review Act Providing Relief to Defrauded Student Borrowers

Senator Murray: “The President and Secretary DeVos have shown that even in the midst of a pandemic, they don’t care about helping struggling students, they care about the bottom lines of predatory for-profit colleges.”

(Washington, D.C.) –  U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, issued the following statement on President Trump’s veto of the bipartisan Congressional Review Act (CRA) overturning the Department of Education’s 2019 Borrower Defense rule, which denies defrauded student borrowers much-needed relief. Secretary DeVos’ rule forces nearly 200,000 cheated borrowers each year to repay 97 percent of their fraudulent debt. The CRA overturning this rule passed in the Senate on March 11, with a vote of 53-42.

“As the devastating economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis continues, cheated and defrauded student loan borrowers need relief more now than ever before. But President Trump’s veto means borrowers will be denied the relief they are entitled to and allow Secretary DeVos’ cruel ‘borrower defense’ rule to stand. The President and Secretary DeVos have shown that even in the midst of a pandemic, they don’t care about helping struggling students, they care about the bottom lines of predatory for-profit colleges. That’s absolutely backwards, and I’ll keep fighting to help cheated students get back on their feet.”

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