As Senate debates joining House in condemning Education Department rule on forgiving student loans, key Republicans are on the fence.
For all of President Trump’s controversial policies, it has been rare for the Republican Senate to formally condemn the administration. But lobbyists on both sides of the debate over U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s borrower-defense rule say it’s increasingly possible that the Republican Senate could join the Democratic House in rebuking the administration over the rule critics say makes it harder for defrauded students to have their education loans forgiven.
Lobbyists representing groups who support as well as oppose the rule stop short of predicting that the resolution sponsored by Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois will pass. But they say several Republicans are on the fence, making it possible that the proposal could get the four Republican votes needed to pass.
Indeed, none of the eight moderate Republican senators, or those facing tough re-election races, contacted this week would say they will oppose the proposal. Instead aides either said the senators are undecided or declined to say where they stand.
“I’m hearing the resolution is in play,” said Steve Gonzalez, senior vice president of government, military and veterans’ relations at Career Education Colleges and Universities. The group, which represents for-profit institutions, supports the rule and is lobbying against the resolution of disapproval.