After years of reckless promises and bureaucratic chaos under Joe Biden, the Trump administration is once again stepping in to restore order, and this time, it’s defaulted student loans.
Starting May 5, the U.S. Department of Education, under the leadership of Secretary Linda McMahon, will resume collections on defaulted federal student loans. This move comes not a moment too soon. Thanks to Biden’s disastrous handling of the federal loan program, more than 5 million borrowers are now in default, and only 38% are current on their payments. In Cobb County alone, there are an estimated 120,000 residents tied up in federal student loan debt, and based the DOE’s statics over 74,000 of them are in default.
That’s not a policy glitch, that’s a full-blown fiscal crisis.
For over five years, spanning COVID, political grandstanding, and one failed loan forgiveness scheme after another, the Biden administration encouraged borrowers to put off their responsibilities while misleading them into believing their debts would simply vanish. The result? A ballooning student loan portfolio topping $1.6 trillion, with the American taxpayer footing the bill.
President Trump, never one to shy away from confronting D.C. dysfunction, rightly called out Biden’s loan forgiveness charade during the campaign. And now, under his renewed leadership, Trump’s team is cleaning house.
In a sharp rebuke of the previous administration’s overreach, Secretary McMahon stated plainly:
“The Biden Administration misled borrowers: the executive branch does not have the constitutional authority to wipe debt away, nor do the loan balances simply disappear. Hundreds of billions have already been transferred to taxpayers.”
That’s exactly the kind of straight talk Americans have come to expect from Trump’s leadership team. No more hiding behind press releases. No more pretending the Constitution is optional. Just clear, lawful action to bring stability back to a broken system.
McMahon continued:
“American taxpayers will no longer be forced to serve as collateral for irresponsible student loan policies.”
Let’s be honest, Biden didn’t just mismanage the student loan crisis; he exploited it. By dangling false hope in front of borrowers and shifting the cost onto the backs of working Americans, he created a moral hazard that’s undermined faith in higher education, government accountability, and personal responsibility.
Under President Trump, that ends now.
The Department of Education—working in coordination with the Department of Treasury, is restarting the Treasury Offset Program, a necessary mechanism to recover unpaid debts by garnishing wages and seizing tax refunds from delinquent borrowers. It’s tough medicine, but it’s what a responsible government must do.
And the effort doesn’t stop there. Borrowers will begin receiving targeted outreach over the next two weeks, urging them to enroll in repayment plans or pursue loan rehabilitation. The Department is giving them a path forward, while finally putting taxpayers first.
Let’s not forget: this mess didn’t exist under President Trump’s first term. In fact, his administration made real progress in holding colleges accountable and reforming repayment structures to better reflect income and job placement. The Biden administration reversed much of that progress, opting instead for social media applause and empty promises.
Now we’re back to reality. The new Trump administration is facing the facts, and acting. Because if we continue to ignore the growing debt crisis, the consequences will fall not just on borrowers, but on every American who plays by the rules and pays their bills.
The lesson here is simple: government cannot spend, promise, or forgive its way out of responsibility. And with President Trump back in office, that message is once again being delivered, loud and clear.
Americans deserve a student loan system that’s fair, constitutional, and accountable. Thanks to strong leadership from Secretary McMahon and President Trump, we’re finally back on that path.
