DeVos suspends federal student loan payments through January 2021
The Trump administration on Friday suspended all federal student loan payments through the end of January and kept interest rates at 0%, extending a moratorium that started early in the pandemic but was set to expire at the end of this month. By extending payments by one month, the administration is effectively leaving it to the Biden administration or Congress to decide whether to provide longer-term relief to millions of student borrowers. In announcing the extension, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos rebuked Congress for failing to act. DeVos won praise for using her authority to pause federal student loan payments in March. A federal lawsuit filed against DeVos in April alleged that thousands of overdue borrowers were still getting pay withheld despite the mortarium.