Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, is pushing new legislation that would bar the federal government from withholding Social Security benefits to collect on unpaid federal student loan debt. The measure, dubbed the Stop Social Security Garnishment Act, would protect retirement and disability benefits from forced collection, according to the senator’s office.
Sanders announced the proposal on Monday and plans to formally introduce the bill when the Senate returns next month, a spokesperson confirmed. The legislation is co-sponsored by Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, both of Massachusetts.
Scope of the problem
The proposal arrives as roughly 9.5 million borrowers are in default on their student loans, based on an Associated Press analysis of federal data through March. Sanders’s office said nearly one in four borrowers cannot repay their loans and are at risk of having wages or Social Security checks garnished.
Older adults are particularly exposed. Around 9.6 million student loan borrowers are age 50 or older, holding nearly $457 billion in outstanding debt, according to Education Department data from the second quarter.
Administration’s current stance
The push comes amid a shifting federal policy landscape. The Trump administration in June 2025 said it would not cut Social Security benefits for borrowers in default, reversing an earlier plan to resume collections after Covid-era protections lapsed. Then in January, the Education Department announced it would delay wage garnishment and other involuntary collections while it worked to implement new repayment options introduced under President Trump’s “big beautiful bill.”
Those reforms, enacted through tax legislation, reduced the number of repayment plans and launched two new options starting July 1. The Education Department said in January that the collections pause could give defaulted borrowers time to rehabilitate their loans through repayments and exit default status. When asked by CNBC about the status of the garnishment pause, an Education Department spokesperson referred to the January announcement.
What the bill would do
Sanders’s measure would ensure that Social Security retirement or disability benefits are not reduced to repay outstanding student debt. The proposal argues that protecting benefit checks would allow seniors to cover basic needs like healthcare, medicine, and food.
“In the richest country in the history of the world, no senior should have their Social Security payments taken away from them to pay back student debt,” Sanders said in a statement. “This is especially true when seniors throughout the country already cannot afford the skyrocketing price of healthcare, prescription drugs, groceries and housing.”
The bill’s fate in Congress remains uncertain, but its introduction highlights ongoing concerns about the financial strain of student debt on older Americans and the government’s collection practices.
Source: www.cnbc.com — https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/17/bernie-sanders-social-security-garnishment-student-loans.html
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. Do your own research and consult a licensed professional before making financial decisions.
