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As furloughed federal workers scramble to cover their bills, members of Congress are imploring the Education Department to help those workers manage their student loans during the partial government shutdown.
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., kicked off the effort this week with a letter asking Education Secretary Betsty DeVos to direct student loan servicing companies to contact federal employees with information about their repayment options.
The Trump administration is threatening to punish California regulators over their decision to turn away a large for-profit college seeking state approval for funding under the GI Bill. At issue is California's decision to avoid taking action on Ashford University's application for approval while the state's attorney general has accused the school of defrauding students.\
WASHINGTON—Today, with the support of Democratic colleagues, Representative Kirkpatrick introduced the American Dream Employment Act, a bill that would allow DACA beneficiaries to serve on Capitol Hill. Under current law, employment in the House and Senate is limited to individuals who are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents in the process of naturalizing. As a result, DREAMers—undocumented young people brought to this country through no fault of their own—are currently barred from working for Congressional offices.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) said at an event celebrating the introduction of a bill to more than double the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $15.00 per hour said that she and her colleagues do not "begrudge anyone their success or their income" but they do "begrudge exploitation" of workers.
At least 80 members of Congress have said they will refuse their paychecks or donate their earnings for the length of the shutdown in solidarity with unpaid federal employees.
Approximately 800,000 federal workers are going without pay due to the partial government shutdown. Of those, 380,000 are furloughed and 420,000, deemed essential, continue to work without pay.
Freshman U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin is asking Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to "proactively" reach out to student loan providers to encourage special dispensation for federal employees affected by the partial government shutdown.
In a Tuesday letter, Slotkin, a Holly Democrat, urged the U.S. Department of Education to do "everything in its power to ease the burden of student loan payments on all federal employees," including urging loan providers to tell borrowers about refinancing options.
On Jan. 11th, Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) released the following statement as the partial government shutdown reached its 21st day, threatening to become the longest government shutdown in U.S. history (the shutdown has now become the longest in history.)
<p>Just over a century ago, Jeannette Rankin of Montana won a seat in the House of Representatives, becoming the first woman ever elected to a federal office. In 1917, 128 years after the first United States Congress convened, she was sworn into its 65th session. </p>
<p>One hundred and two years later, one has become 131 -- the number of women serving in both chambers of the 116th Congress as of this month.</p>
Today Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) marched with federal employees and shared stories from Oregonians on the House floor to continue her call for an end to the partial government shutdown.
In her remarks on the House floor, Bonamici described how employees at the TSA, federal prisons, Coast Guard, and other federal agencies are being hurt as a direct result of the government shutdown. At the Rally to End the Government Shutdown, which was organized by more than 20 unions, Bonamici stood in solidarity with federal employees.