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October 25, 2019

Top U.S. Student Loan Official Quits, Calling for Massive Debt Forgiveness
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The Trump administration's top student loan official said Thursday he
will resign his position at the Education Department and will work for
the cancellation of nearly $1 trillion in federally-administered student
loan debt. A. Wayne Johnson says he'll promote a plan that would forgive
up to $50,000 for anyone with federal student loans, worth about $925
billion. He told the Wall Street Journal, "We run through the process of
putting this debt burden on somebody … but it rides on their credit
files - it rides on their back - for decades. The time has come for us
to end and stop the insanity." His high-profile resignation came as a
federal judge on Thursday held Education Secretary Betsy De Vos in
contempt of court for violating an order to stop collecting student debt
for people who were defrauded by the for-profit chain Corinthian
Colleges. The court ruled De Vos ignored the rights of more than 60,000
former students who were granted relief from the federal government
after Corinthian Colleges collapsed in 2014 amid government scrutiny of
its fraud and predatory lending. Under Thursday's contempt of court
ruling, De Vos will face no jail time and her Education Department will
be fined $100,000.


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