Murkowski Votes to Overturn Borrower Defense Rule
Protecting Defrauded Student Borrowers
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) issued the following statement after voting in favor of S.J. Res. 56, a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval overturning a 2019 Department of Education Borrower Defense rule:
“Congress provided the Department of Education with authority to adopt regulations governing the cancellation of loans for students who were defrauded by their college. This provision is called ‘borrower defense to repayment.’ The new regulation, while an improvement over the prior regulation in some areas, makes it difficult for students to know whether they’ve been a victim of their college’s misrepresentation in the first place. I worry this new rule may have unintended consequences in our efforts to hold fraudulent colleges accountable and protect student loan borrowers. We need a policy in place that will allow defrauded students the chance to have their loan debt forgiven, while protecting good colleges and taxpayers.”
