Sen. Elizabeth Warren warns of 'dire consequences' of Education Department firings for student loans
Source: ABC News
March 20, 2025, 10:26 AM
Sen. Elizabeth Warren is urging Education Secretary Linda McMahon to reinstate former Department of Education employees she says were critical to the nation's federal student loan process or else borrowers will suffer "dire consequences," according to a letter Warren sent to McMahon on Wednesday.
"The Department of Education (ED) appears to be abandoning the millions of parents, students, and borrowers who rely on a functioning federal student aid system to lower education costs," Warren and a group of Democratic senators wrote in a letter to McMahon. "ED should immediately restore all fired [Federal Student Aid] employees responsible for reviewing student aid complaints and refrain from taking any measures to deter the submission of complaints," the senators added.
FSA civil servants are tasked with helping the nation's students achieve higher education, including overseeing a $1.6 trillion portfolio of student loans, and providing grants to students to attend college. Its one of the largest offices within the Education Department. The office has over 1,000 employees, which is over a quarter of the entire Education Department's workforce.
FSA received nearly 300,000 complaints in fiscal year 2024, according to the letter. The Trump Education Department intended to remove the "Submit a Complaint" button from FSA's website, according to the letter. It found a senior employee at the department called the move an "overall win" as the change would decrease the volume and number of complaints. But more than 90% of the office's complaints were submitted online last year.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/warren-tells-mcmahon-firing-workers-means-dire-consequences/story?id=119954913
Link to Sen. Warren PRESS RELEASE - Warren, Sanders, Senators Demand Education Secretary McMahon Reinstate Federal Student Aid Workers
Link to Sen. Warren LETTER (PDF) - https://www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/letter_from_senator_warren_to_the_department_of_education_on_the_federal_student_aid_complaint_system.pdf