The party’s over. After years of delusion, deception, and Democrat-led schemes to buy votes with taxpayer dollars, the Department of Education is finally snapping out of its COVID-era stupor. The Trump administration has announced that involuntary debt collection for defaulted student loans will resume on May 5, and not a moment too soon.
For over four years, federal student loan borrowers have been living in a fantasyland—thanks to a politically motivated pause on collections that began under the guise of pandemic relief. What started as a temporary emergency measure morphed into a permanent handout under Joe Biden’s watch, all while hardworking Americans picked up the tab. Now, President Trump’s team is bringing order back to the chaos.
According to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, “American taxpayers will no longer be forced to serve as collateral for irresponsible student loan policies.” And she’s exactly right. Under Biden, the Department of Education kept borrowers in limbo—refusing to enforce repayment while peddling unconstitutional loan forgiveness schemes and “on-ramp” gimmicks to hide the looming disaster of mass delinquency.
The numbers speak volumes. Over 42 million Americans owe more than $1.6 trillion in student loan debt. Of those, more than 5 million haven’t made a payment in over a year—and many have been in default for over seven years. Another 4 million are on the verge of default. The Biden administration failed to confront these facts. They let the clock run out while pretending that money magically disappears.
Well, reality has arrived. And that reality is being ushered in by a Trump administration that understands two basic truths: debts must be repaid, and taxpayer dollars are not Monopoly money.
Beginning this month, the Department of Education will contact borrowers and inform them of the new expectations. By summer, if you’re in default and haven’t made arrangements, wage garnishment will return. This isn’t cruel—it’s common sense. Every day you and I pay our mortgages, credit cards, and car loans. Why should someone with a master’s degree in underwater basket weaving be exempt just because they voted Democrat?
The administration is also equipping borrowers with tools to manage their repayment. From a new AI assistant named “Aiden” to a user-friendly Loan Simulator, the goal is to help people pay back what they owe—not punish them, but certainly not coddle them either.
In a stunning twist of irony, it was the Biden administration that accused the Trump team of playing politics. Yet it was Biden and his bureaucrats who promised blanket forgiveness, only to be smacked down by the Supreme Court. They lied to voters, created false hope, and ignored the constitutional limits of executive power. Now they’re crying foul because someone is finally enforcing the law.
This is what adult leadership looks like. Secretary McMahon and the Department of Education are not only restarting collections—they’re setting a new tone of responsibility. They’ve made it clear that moving forward, repayment is the expectation, not the exception.
And let’s not forget the elephant in the room: America’s higher education racket. The Trump administration has rightly said Congress must act to lower college costs and fix a broken system that traps young people in debt while bloating universities with diversity administrators and DEI directors.
The days of free rides are ending. President Trump is bringing accountability back to Washington. And for millions of taxpayers, it’s about time.
