Letter follows federal judge dismissing an ongoing legal challenge to borrowers under SAVE Plan repayment program
Washington, D.C. – Today, Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and Vermont’s U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, led their Senate colleagues to press the Trump Administration’s Education Department (ED) for urgent answers about its plans for federal student loan repayment options following a federal judge’s dismissal of an ongoing legal challenge to the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan and its affordable payments.
“This decision formally ends the SAVE injunction that has forced over 7 million SAVE borrowers into economic limbo—pushing meaningful debt relief and affordable monthly payments out of reach. Considering the ongoing affordability crisis, we call on the Department of Education (the Department) to implement the benefits of the SAVE plan and administer loan cancellation for borrowers on the SAVE Plan who are eligible for such relief immediately,” the Senators wrote to U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.
The SAVE Plan was originally created in 2023 to help student loan borrowers nationwide by creating a new income-driven repayment (IDR) plan—which links payments to a borrower’s income and family size.
“Unfortunately, due to court challenges brought by right-wing Attorneys General, the SAVE plan has been enjoined since the summer of 2024 and SAVE borrowers have been stuck in forbearance for over one year,” continuaron. “Congressional Republicans also took aim at the SAVE plan in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which requires the SAVE Plan and other IDR plans to be eliminated by July 2028.”
In response to the judge’s ruling, the Senators urged the Education Department to swiftly provide student loan relief for millions of Americans, “Now that the injunction blocking SAVE has ended, the Department must ensure borrowers have access to the benefits they are entitled to under the law.”
Merkley and Sanders have been leaders in Congress to ensure students have a much-needed path to student debt relief. Previously, Merkley led his Senate colleagues, including Sanders, to demand answers from Secretary McMahon about the Trump Administration’s proposal to eliminate affordable student loan repayment options for millions of Americans.
Merkley also leads the Savings Opportunity and Affordable Repayment (SOAR) Act, which Sanders co-sponsors. The bill would better protect borrowers from unaffordable payments and runaway balances due to rapidly accruing interest, while offering a clearer path to debt relief after at least a decade of payments.
In addition to Merkley and Sanders, this letter is also signed by U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Alex Padilla (D-CA), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD).
Full text of the letter can be found by clicking aquí and follows below:
Dear Secretary McMahon:
We send this urgent letter in response to last Friday’s decision by a federal judge to dismiss Missouri v. Trump and reject the Trump Administration’s request to vacate the Saving on A Valuable Education (SAVE) rule. This decision formally ends the SAVE injunction that has forced over 7 million SAVE borrowers into economic limbo—pushing meaningful debt relief and affordable monthly payments out of reach. Considering the ongoing affordability crisis, we call on the Department of Education (the Department) to implement the benefits of the SAVE plan and administer loan cancellation for borrowers on the SAVE Plan who are eligible for such relief immediately.
First announced in July 2023 as the most affordable income-driven repayment (IDR) plan to date, the SAVE Plan seeks to better protect borrowers from unaffordable payments and runaway balances due to rapidly accruing interest and offers a clearer path to debt relief. According to Protect Borrowers, of the more than 8 million borrowers who enrolled in the SAVE plan, 4.6 million individuals had their monthly payments lowered to $0 and nearly half a million borrowers would have been provided with immediate debt relief, had the plan been allowed to take full effect.
Unfortunately, due to court challenges brought by right-wing Attorneys General, the SAVE plan has been enjoined since the summer of 2024 and SAVE borrowers have been stuck in forbearance for over one year. Congressional Republicans also took aim at the SAVE plan in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which requires the SAVE Plan and other IDR plans to be eliminated by July 2028.
Making matters even worse for borrowers, in December 2025, the Trump Administration voluntarily entered into a settlement agreement, which would have formally ended the SAVE plan two years earlier than what is required under the OBBBA. The proposed settlement agreement would have required 7 million borrowers to be moved out of the SAVE plan earlier than the law would have required and forced those borrowers into less affordable repayment plans. This would occur while an increasing number of borrowers struggle to afford their monthly payments, defaults are on the rise, and the Department works to implement unprecedented changes to the student loan repayment system as required under the OBBBA.
Now that the injunction blocking SAVE has ended, the Department must ensure borrowers have access to the benefits they are entitled to under the law. We respectfully request responses to the following questions by Monday, March 9, 2026:
- What are the Department’s plans to implement the SAVE plan in light of the end of the SAVE injunction?
- When will borrowers be able to apply to and be enrolled in the SAVE plan?
- When will borrowers with pending SAVE plan applications be enrolled?
- When will SAVE-enrolled borrowers who are currently in the SAVE litigation forbearance be placed back in active repayment?
- Will time spent in the litigation forbearance count toward forgiveness?
- How will the Department ensure that SAVE borrowers already eligible for cancellation under the SAVE plan have access to such relief?
- How many borrowers are currently entitled to SAVE cancellation as of Friday, February 27, 2026?
- Are the Department’s systems currently programmed to identify borrowers who qualify for the SAVE plan’s debt cancellation provisions for:
- borrowers with lower original principal balances, per 34 C.F.R. 685.209(k)(3)?
- borrowers who have been in debt and making qualified income-driven payments for 20 years or longer, per 34 C.F.R. 685.209(k)(2)?
###
Spanish 
English