Cory Booker: “I want to say something about student loans too. The Department of Education is also responsible for operating the $1.6…”

“I want to say something about student loans too. The Department of Education is also responsible for operating the $1.6 trillion Federal student loan program, which benefits 42.7 million borrowers in America, and it allows students to access higher education--something that is shown unequivocally to strengthen our economy. This administration plans to move student loan funding to the Small Business Administration--a plan that even some of my Republican colleagues in Congress have expressed serious concerns about. Here is an article: ``Republicans hesitant to stand behind Trump's plan for student loans.'' Although SBA . . . managed a wealth of COVID relief programs, it normally runs a much smaller operation than [the] student debt [program]. President . . . Trump has yet to win over his own party with his push to ``immediately'' transfer the Education Department's massive student loan operation to another agency slated for deep staff cuts. Trump was expected to propose moving the agency's $1.6 trillion portfolio to the Treasury Department--a concept long-discussed on Capitol Hill and suggested in Project 2025, The Heritage Foundation's conservative policy blueprint. Instead, the president announced this month that the [SBA] would get it, surprising many lawmakers and conservatives who track the issue.…”