GOP leaders to probe which Biden White House officials will get payoffs from student loan scheme

House Republican leaders are investigating which White House officials stand to financially
benefit from a White House scheme to offer bailouts to student loan holders.

“In a letter to the White House Counsel. Stuart Delery, [Education and Labor Committee
Republican Leader Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Oversight and Government Reform Committee
Republican Leader James Comer (R-KY)] are requesting information to determine whether
Biden Administration political appointees have a conflict of interest and whether they or their
family members are poised to benefit from this new government handout,” Education and Labor
Committee Republicans announced in a statement.

“Recently, the Biden Administration announced that it will cancel up to $10,000 in student loans
and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant beneficiaries for any individual with an income up to $125,000,
or a household income of up to $250,000. The student loan bailout does not exempt political
appointees with outstanding student loans,” Committee Republicans state.

The windfall to White House officials from their own scheme could be large.
“Reports indicate that thirty senior White House political appointees have millions in outstanding
student loans. Collectively, these political appointees owe approximately $4.7 million, an
amount which does not include loans of mid-level staffers who are not required to publicly
disclose their debts due to junior status or pay thresholds,” Committee Republicans note.
“On June 15, 2022, Republican Leaders Foxx and Comer wrote to the Office of Government
Ethics (OGE) raising ethical questions about this conflict of interest,” they add.

“We are investigating whether Biden Administration officials who worked on the student loan
bailout will personally benefit from this financial windfall. It is unethical for public officials to
craft policies from which they stand to benefit financially,” wrote Foxx and Comer.

“Despite reports that White House political appointees collectively owe millions in student loan
debt, the Office of Government Ethics informed Committee Republicans that no White House
official sought an ethics waiver to work on student loan bailout proposals,” they add.

“We write to request documents and information to determine whether Biden Administration
officials have a conflict of interest in advocating for and enacting this massive government
handout in which they or their family members would receive a financial benefit at the expense
of American taxpayers,” Foxx and Comer informed Daley.

“President Biden’s student loan bailout is a wealth transfer from hardworking Americans to
highly educated, upper-middle-class graduates. This bailout will cost the average taxpayer over
$2,000. Many hardworking taxpayers do not hold a college degree or made difficult financial
decisions to finance their degree either without borrowing from taxpayers or by paying off their
student loans as promised,” wrote Foxx and Comer

We are concerned that political officials may have committed serious ethics violations if they
provided advice and counsel or drafted the bailout scheme from which they financially
benefited,” Foxx and Comer concluded.

AAN Staff