Senators Demand SAVE Plan Timeline From Education Dept

Six Democratic senators sent a letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon demanding that the Trump Administration immediately move to restore the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan after a federal judge dismissed the last major legal challenge standing in its way.

The letter, led by Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and co-signed by Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Alex Padilla (D-CA), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), came days after a federal court dismissed Missouri v. Trump, the case that had kept the SAVE Plan blocked since the summer of 2024. 

The dismissal ended the injunction that has held more than 7 million enrolled borrowers in administrative forbearance for nearly two years. However, the Republican states have already filed their appeal.

“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.

Concerns About The Potential SAVE Settlement

The senators’ letter also raised alarm about a separate action by the Trump Administration. In December 2025, the administration proposed a settlement agreement that would have formally ended the SAVE Plan.

Under that potential agreement, the roughly 7 million borrowers currently in the SAVE Plan would have been moved onto less affordable repayment options on an accelerated timeline. The senators called that prospect unacceptable given rising default rates and the financial pressure already weighing on borrowers.

“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,” they wrote.

The federal judge’s dismissal of Missouri v. Trump rendered the proposed settlement moot but left open the question of what the Department of Education plans to do next.

Congressional Action

The OBBBA will wind down SAVE and other income-driven plans by 2028 by law, replacing them with two options: a standard repayment plan and a single new IDR plan (the Repayment Assistance Plan). Critics say those alternatives would push up monthly payments for lower-income borrowers significantly.

Merkley and Sanders have pushed for broader student loan protections beyond the SAVE Plan fight. Merkley leads the Savings Opportunity and Affordable Repayment (SOAR) Act, co-sponsored by Sanders, which would protect borrowers from runaway interest accumulation and offer a path to loan forgiveness after at least a decade of payments.

The letter is the latest in a series of congressional challenges to the Trump Administration’s student loan posture. Merkley previously led senators in demanding answers from McMahon about the administration’s proposal to eliminate affordable repayment options altogether.

What This Means For Borrowers

For the millions of Americans stuck in the SAVE plan forbearance, the court ruling removes the legal barrier that has kept them in suspended repayment since mid-2024. But removing the barrier does not automatically restore their benefits — the Department of Education must take active steps to reactivate the program, re-enroll borrowers, and process forgiveness applications.

In fact, borrowers are now suing the Department of Education to force those steps.

The senators asked McMahon to answer a pointed set of questions to try to get a timeline, including: 

• When will borrowers be able to enroll or be placed back in active repayment?
• Will time spent in litigation forbearance count toward loan forgiveness?
• How will the department identify and process cancellations for borrowers already eligible under the SAVE Plan’s forgiveness rules?

In the meantime, borrowers are still stuck waiting on final answers. But every borrower in the SAVE Plan should make plans, understand their options, and decide what the best path forward is individually.

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