Sanders Introduces Bill to Shield Social Security Checks From Student Loan Garnishment
By Maria Carrasco, NASFAA Staff Reporter
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Monday introduced a new bill that would prohibit the government from garnishing Social Security benefits to collect defaulted federal student loan debt from seniors and individuals with disabilities.
Specifically, the Stop Social Security Garnishment Act would amend the Higher Education Act (HEA) to bar this practice. Under current law, the federal government can garnish up to 15% of a monthly Social Security check to recover defaulted loan debt. In a press release, Sanders stressed that these checks are crucial for these individuals to afford healthcare, medicine, groceries, and other basic needs.
In a fact sheet shared by Sanders, a 2025 report from the the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) found that more than one in three Social Security recipients with student loans rely on those payments as their primary source of income. The CFPB also found that the total amount of Social Security benefits the Department of Education (ED) collected between 2001 to 2019 through the offset program increased from $16.2 million to $429.7 million.
With roughly 9 million borrowers currently in default, Sanders, the ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, stressed this bill would protect Social Security benefits for some of the most vulnerable student loan borrowers, and called on Congress to pass the legislation. The bill is cosponsored by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.).
“As a result of Trump’s disastrous cuts to education, an increasing number of seniors are in danger of having their Social Security checks garnished to pay back student loans they took out decades ago,” Sanders said in a statement. “That is beyond unacceptable. In the richest country in the history of the world, no senior should have their Social Security payments taken away from them to pay back student debt.”
Publication Date: 8/18/2026
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