Biden's Education Department is 'ill prepared' to resume student-loan payments for millions of borrowers in 3 months, 2 GOP lawmakers say — and they're demanding 'proof' of a repayment strategy

• Student-loan payments are set to resume in October.
• GOP Rep. Foxx and Sen. Cassidy asked the Education Department for its strategy on the resumption.

Millions of student-loan borrowers don't yet know if they will get President Joe Biden's broad student-debt relief — but they do know the president is planning for their payments to resume this fall.

Two Republican lawmakers want to know how the Education Department is preparing for that to happen.

Since March 2020, federal student-loan payments — and interest — have been on pause to provide borrowers with financial relief during the pandemic. The Education Department recently confirmed that the relief period will soon end, and borrowers will begin paying off their debt again in October, with interest starting to accrue in September.

"The emergency period is over, and we're preparing our borrowers to restart," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told senators in May. The debt-ceiling bill Biden recently signed into law also codified the end of the student-loan payment pause, meaning the pause cannot be extended again this year in connection with COVID-19.

Rep. Virginia Foxx and Sen. Bill Cassidy, top Republicans on the House and Senate education committees, respectively, sent a letter to Cardona on Tuesday requesting "tangible proof" on how, exactly, he plans to ensure a smooth transition to repayment for millions of borrowers after an over three-year pause.

"We write today because we are concerned that you are ill prepared to return millions of student loan borrowers to repayment," Foxx and Cassidy wrote.

"Mr. Secretary, the success or failure of the return to repayment sits squarely on your shoulders," they added. "As the committees responsible for oversight of the Department, we need to know if the Department has exercised due diligence and done all it can to prepare the servicers to provide the best customer service to borrowers, and that borrowers have a clear understanding of what is required of them for a smooth transition to repayment."

Foxx and Cassidy requested that within two weeks, Cardona provide "any and all" internal memos on the strategy for the department's return to repayment, along with an in-person briefing on the plan no later than July 20. The lawmakers also asked that Cardona counter efforts in which borrowers refuse to repay their loans — something some borrowers have vowed to do in the past because they cannot afford repayment.

Documents obtained by Politico in April showed that the department has told student-loan companies to begin charging interest on borrowers' loans in September, and they're required to notify borrowers of the payment resumption after August 31. A spokesperson also recently said the department "will notify borrowers well before payments restart," but details are minimal on what else the department is planning to facilitate the transition.

Additionally, the lack of funding for Federal Student Aid could pose issues to the unprecedented transition of millions of borrowers back to repayment after three years on hold. Congress did not increase funding for the office last year, meaning it could lack the necessary resources to ensure borrowers can effectively repay their loans in a few months.

"Students and their families deserve transparency and accountability from student loan servicers to ensure they can take advantage of the most affordable ways to repay their loans — and it's critical that the Department of Education hold those servicers to the highest of standards," Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren previously told Insider. "That's why I'll continue to fight for the increased funding the Student Aid Administration needs to provide quality services and support at-risk borrowers."