Congressional Democrats Introduce Resolution to Block Trump-Era Student Loan Limits

A group of congressional Democrats announced a resolution on Thursday to repeal Trump administration rules capping student loans. Sens. ), along with Reps. ) will introduce a Congressional Review Act resolution to repeal the Department of Education’s final rule.

The congressional Democrats said they will have to wait to introduce the CRA until the rule is officially received by Congress, triggering the 60-day review window. The Department of Education’s recent final rule limits colleges’ and universities’ ability to charge exorbitant tuition, caps student loan borrowing for graduate and professional students, allows universities to establish their own loan caps based on program value, streamlines loan repayment, and eliminates the Grad PLUS program.

The loan caps do not take effect until July 1.

The rule came after decades of colleges driving up tuition costs unchecked. Tuition has increased 343 percent since 2005. Education Under Secretary Nicholas Kent stated that the changes aim to address programs with little or no return on investment for borrowers.

“We want to lower the cost of higher education by instituting reasonable loan limits for post-baccalaureate programs,” Kent said. Kent added that Democrats have long claimed concern for student debt but that the resolution reveals different motives. “For years, Democrats have purported to care about student debt.

But now, they’ve reaffirmed what we’ve been saying. That it was never about helping students but rather buying votes,” Kent stated. The Democrats claim the loan caps affect public service jobs like nurses, teachers and firefighters.

Kent disputed that assessment with specific data. “94% of graduate-level teachers are not impacted by the loan caps. And when is the last time you heard of fire fighters taking on graduate-level debt?

You don’t. That’s because 100% of graduate-level fire service programs are not impacted,” Kent said.

The University of California, Irvine cut tuition for two business degrees by more than 20 percent after the loan cap announcement. The University of Kansas will start using its endowment to offer low-interest rate student loans instead of relying on federal dollars.

Santa Clara University Law School launched a “pledge scholarship” offering a $16,000 tuition scholarship to every first-year law student.

Santa Clara University Law School stated that the PLEDGE Scholarship was designed to ensure next year’s incoming class has access to funds to cover tuition despite new federal loan limits. The Federalist reported these developments. Breccan F. Thies is the White House correspondent for The Federalist. He is a co-recipient of the 2025 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism.