July, 2020
Washington and Lincoln – Thanks to the House Appropriations Committee, the U.S. Department of Education has cancelled a student loan servicer contract solicitation that gave every appearance of political favoritism and corruption.
The heavy lifting was done by Congressman Mark Pocan of Wisconsin and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, who were prepared to challenge the award process in this week's markup session. Secretary DeVos backed away and cancelled the process instead.
It is gratifying to see my earlier blogs on the matter read by so many people. If it saves jobs in Lincoln, so much the better but the main focus must be on good servicing and protecting borrowers, wherever the servicing is done.
The question now is whether a new, fair competition can be held or if President Trump and Secretary DeVos will try to circumvent the House and proceed in some other way. It would be appropriate for the House to investigate the whole affair so as to prevent a recurrence.
