The Trump administration has delayed plans to withhold wages from federal student loan borrowers in default, easing pressure on millions facing renewed collection action.The Education Department said involuntary collections would remain paused while new repayment plans are finalised, reversing preparations to restart wage garnishment after the pandemic-era suspension.Collections pause extendedIn a statement, Nicholas Kent, the department’s higher education chief, said the agency was committed to helping borrowers resume regular, on-time repayment with clearer and more affordable options, Kent quoted by the Associated Press.He added that involuntary collection efforts such as Administrative Wage Garnishment and the Treasury Offset Program would function more efficiently and fairly after improvements to what he described as a broken student loan system, in conversation with the Associated Press.Borrowers remain protected from penaltiesBorrowers who fall at least 270 days behind on federal student loans can face wage garnishment and the withholding of federal tax refunds, penalties that were paused during the pandemic payment freeze later lifted by the Trump administration, according to the Associated Press.Officials said last spring that tax refund offsets for defaulted borrowers would resume, and in December they signalled wage garnishment would restart in January, with initial notices sent to 1,000 borrowers during the week of Jan. 7, the Associated Press said.Millions at risk as plans changeDepartment data show more than five million Americans were in default on federal student loans as of September, while millions more have fallen behind on payments and risk entering default this year, figures cited by the Associated Press.The department did not provide a new date for involuntary collections, saying the delay allows borrowers time to assess repayment plans scheduled to become available starting July 1, according to the Associated Press.Repayment overhaul underwayCongress previously directed the department to simplify repayment options, leaving new borrowers with a standard plan or an income-based alternative, after the SAVE Plan introduced under former president Joe Biden was scrapped following a legal challenge, the Associated Press reported.Student loan advocates welcomed the pause, with Aissa Canchola Bañez, policy director at Protect Borrowers, saying the administration’s plans would have been economically reckless and risked pushing nearly nine million defaulted borrowers further into debt, comments quoted by the Associated Press.The group urged the department not to resume wage garnishment while borrowers adjust to revised repayment structures, a position echoed by other advocates speaking with the Associated Press nationwide.
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