Rep. García Leads Colleagues in Calling for Transparency on Federal Student Loan Oversight Report

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman Jesús "Chuy" García (IL-04) led 30 of his colleagues in a letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon and current Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Student Loan Ombudsman Geoffrey Gradler demanding transparency regarding recent findings that a federally required student loan oversight report was substantially altered prior to publication.

According to the findings, the report was originally drafted by former CFPB Student Loan Ombudsman Julia Barnard, but the version ultimately released to the public was significantly shortened and edited by Trump-appointed CFPB leadership prior to publication. If accurate, these alterations raise serious concerns that Congress and the public may have been deprived of critical information regarding borrower harm, loan servicing failures, and risks within the federal student loan system.

"Millions of Americans rely on federal student loans to have access to a college education, and Congress needs accurate reports to conduct oversight of this process," said Congressman García. "Intentionally editing the annual report to hide information of how Trump's decimation of the Department of Education personnel has impacted borrowers is unacceptable and raises serious concerns about transparency and integrity in the system as well as borrower protection."

The Members' letter also raises concerns about whether the Office of the Student Loan Ombudsman was provided with access to information and stakeholder engagement necessary to fulfill its statutory responsibilities. Any limitations on the Ombudsman's ability to independently gather information would undermine the integrity of the report and Congress' ability to conduct oversight.

"Statutory law required me to write an independent annual report. I wrote it and covered everything from college price-fixing to pathways out of default status to widespread and basic servicer errors, but the Trump administration hid it," said Julia Barnard, former Student Loan Ombudsman at CFPB. "Student debtors and their families desperately trying to stay financially afloat deserve corrupt actors being held accountable. Congress must leave no stone unturned to expose what the Trump administration concealed."

Additionally, the Members highlight reporting that the Administration may move forward with plans to transfer responsibility for defaulted federal student loans from the Department of Education to the Department of Treasury, raising further concerns about transparency and borrower protections.

In the letter, the Members demand "access to complete and accurate information in order to ensure federal student aid programs are functioning as intended," given the scale of the federal student loan portfolio and the millions of Americans, particularly first-generation college students, students of color and low-income borrowers who rely on it.

The letter is co-signed by Representatives Alma Adams (NC-12), Brendan Boyle (PA-02), Salud Carbajal (CA-24), Judy Chu (CA-28), Gil Cisneros (CA-31), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Danny Davis (IL-07), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Adelita Grijalva (AZ-07), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Greg Landsman (OH-01), John Larson (CT-01), Summer Lee (PA-12), LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-00), Scott Peters (CA-50), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Hillary Scholten (MI-03), Bennie Thompson (MS-02), Dina Titus (NV-01) Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Lauren Underwood (IL-14), Nydia Velázquez (NY-07), Frederica Wilson (FL-24).

A full copy of the letter is availablehere.