S4815-118

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Student Loan Accountability Act.

2. Findings Congress finds the following: Congress does not hide elephants in mouseholes; statutory authority has not been provided to the executive branch of the Federal Government to cancel student loans on a mass scale. In 2023, the Supreme Court struck down the Biden Administration’s attempt at mass cancellation of student loans in Biden v. Nebraska, 600 U.S. 477 (2023), concluding that [t]he basic and consequential tradeoffs inherent in a mass debt cancellation program are ones that Congress would likely have intended for itself and . . . our precedent—old and new—requires that Congress speak clearly before a Department Secretary can unilaterally alter large sections of the American economy.. It is unfair for taxpayers who already paid their student loans, chose not to pursue higher education, or worked hard to pay for their education without taking on student loan debt, to foot the bill of millions of borrowers.

3. Prohibition on mass cancellation of student loans Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of the Treasury, or the Attorney General shall not take any action to cancel or forgive the outstanding balances, or portion of balances, of covered loans, except as provided in paragraph (2). The prohibition described in paragraph (1) shall not apply to targeted Federal student loan forgiveness, cancellation, or repayment programs carried out under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), under final regulations as in effect on May 11, 2022. In this section, the term covered loan means— a loan made, insured, or guaranteed under part B, D, or E of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1071 et seq.; 1087a et seq.; 1087aa et seq.) before, on, or after the date of enactment of this Act; or a loan under the Health Education Assistance Loan Program under title VII of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 292 et seq.) made before, on, or after the date of enactment of this Act. The Secretary of Education, the Secretary of the Treasury, or the Attorney General may not implement, or publish in any form, any regulation, or take any action, that modifies, alters, amends, cancels, discharges, forgives, or defers the repayment of any student debt not expressly permitted within statute or regulation as in effect on March 12, 2020, regarding covered loans, except to the extent that such regulation or action reflects the clear and unequivocal intent of Congress in legislation.