Kaine, Gillibrand & Booker Slam Vote Allowing Politicization of Public Service Loan Forgiveness

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) slammed the Senate's vote to block their Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to overturn the Trump-Vance Administration's final rule politicizing the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program:

"Today, the Trump-Vance Administration and its Republican allies in the U.S. Senate not only made it harder for Americans to afford to enter public service careers, but also denied all of our communities some of the future benefits of having a talented, vast pool of firefighters, teachers, nonprofit hospital staff, social workers, and other public servants," said Kaine. "Sadly, that's par for the course for an Administration hellbent on ignoring the affordability crisis and Americans' best interests."

"Student loan forgiveness should not be ripped away from public servants based on the president's political agenda," said Gillibrand. "Student borrowers who have dedicated their careers to helping others-often for less pay than they could have otherwise earned-are counting on a promise from their government that their loans will be forgiven. The Trump administration's move to retroactively punish student borrowers by denying this benefit is disgraceful. I am disappointed that the vote to overturn this heartless decision failed, but I will keep fighting to give borrowers the relief that they were promised."

"The Trump Administration's decision to politicize the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program creates uncertainty for millions of borrowers at a time when families are already being squeezed by rising costs, pushing public servants who followed every rule into years of additional debt," said Booker. "I am deeply disappointed in my Republican colleagues who voted to support Trump's political attack on our public servants and failed to restore the promise we made to the people who serve our communities."

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