Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks at a rally in support of the Biden administration’s student debt relief plan in front of the Supreme Court in Washington on February 28, 2023.
Drew Angerer | Getty Images
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) is proposing a new bill that would prevent seniors from having money deducted from their Social Security checks for unpaid federal student loans.
Sanders announced the proposal on Monday and plans to formally introduce the bill, called the Social Security Foreclosure Suspension Act, when the Senate begins next month, according to a spokesperson for the senator.
The bill is also supported by Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, both of Massachusetts.
An Associated Press analysis of federal data through March found that about 9.5 million borrowers are in default on their student loans.
Sanders said nearly one in four borrowers will default on their loans and are at risk of having their wages or Social Security checks garnished.
Sanders’ proposal comes in the wake of the Trump administration’s suspension of involuntary collections for borrowers who default on their federal student loans.
What’s going on with student loan collection?
The Trump administration reversed course in June 2025, months after announcing it would not cut Social Security benefits for affected borrowers and announcing plans to restart collection efforts following coronavirus-era policies that had protected delinquent borrowers.
And in January, the Education Department announced plans to slow wage garnishments and other involuntary collections while working to implement new federal student loan repayment options in President Donald Trump’s “Big and Beautiful Bill.”
Reforms enacted through the tax law have reduced the number of repayment plans across the board and also launched two new repayment options from July 1st.
The Department of Education said in January that for borrowers who have defaulted on their student loans, collection delays could give them time to rebuild their loans through repayments and come out of loan default.
Asked by CNBC about the status of the foreclosure moratorium, a Department of Education spokesperson referred to the January announcement.
What Sanders’ proposal means for older borrowers
Sanders’ proposal would prevent Social Security retirement and disability benefits from being cut to pay off outstanding student loan debt.
According to the proposal, seniors who are behind on their student loans would be protected from forced collection of benefit checks and guaranteed they can continue paying for basic needs like health care, medicine and food.
“In the richest country in the history of the world, no senior should have their Social Security benefits taken away from them to pay off their student loans,” Sanders said in a statement. “This is especially true at a time when seniors across the country are already struggling to cope with rising costs for medical care, prescription drugs, groceries, and housing.”
According to second-quarter data from the Department of Education, there are approximately 9.6 million student loan borrowers over the age of 50 with approximately $457 billion in outstanding loans.
