Congress threw a lifeline to student loan borrowers in the heavily lobbied $2.2 trillion stimulus bill by pausing payments on most federal loans. Now lawmakers want to do more to help borrowers who were already struggling to make payments before the coronavirus pandemic left millions unemployed.
After years of inaction, Washington’s newfound attention to the issue comes as nationwide student debt continues to soar. Many of the lawmakers pushing to address the crisis know firsthand about the expensive reality of student debt.
Fifty-nine members of Congress reported owing student loans in their latest financial disclosures released last year. Roughly 40 percent of those borrowers are part of the young and diverse class of freshman lawmakers first elected in 2018.
Most lawmakers report their assets and debts in wide ranges. With the new wave of members elected in 2018, the total student debt in the 116th Congress reached up to $5.8 million. That’s an increase from a maximum of $4.6 million in the previous Congress.
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