Trump Vetoes Congressional Override Of DeVos Rule

https://www.forbes.com/sites/wesleywhistle/2020/05/29/trump-vetoes-congressional-override-of-devos-rule/?fbclid=IwAR1-F2U1yeAm3ndC_N-GeP51fH-e3RZeRYaqbyrwy9UVszUPuQEEcxkAKG0#640e241846ee

Wesley Whistle Senior Contributor Education
writes about education, including policy, student debt, and more.
May 29, 2020,05:23pm EDT

Waiting until almost the very last minute on a Friday, President Trump issued his first veto of domestic policy legislation. This veto was of House Joint Resolution 76, sponsored by Representative Susie Lee (D-NV), a bill that would’ve prevented Education Secretary Betsy DeVos from implementing her new rule determining how defrauded student borrowers could get loan forgiveness.

The “borrower defense to repayment” rule provides the Secretary of Education the authority to discharge student debt if student borrowers were defrauded by their college. In 2016, the Obama Administration issued a new regulation for the borrower defense rule after the floodgates opened with students claiming fraud from the now-defunct Corinthian College.

Secretary DeVos thought the Obama-era rule was too generous and recently rewrote this rule making it very hard for borrowers to receive loan forgiveness. Her new rule created a really high standard, placing a nearly impossible burden of proof on student borrowers.

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Trump’s veto will likely angry many veterans across the country, just days after Memorial Day. In March, more than 30 military and veteran organizations – including the American Legion and Veterans Education Success — signed a letter urging President Trump to support the legislation. Just before Trump vetoed the measure, the American Legion tweeted a statement calling for the president to sign the legislation.

Many veterans have been the target of predatory colleges seeking to profit off of military and veteran education benefits. Veterans Education Success even ran an ad on Fox News targeting the president in hopes that it could sway him to support the legislation.

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