Murray Slams Trump for Threatening Millions of Americans with Financial Chaos by Stupidly Upending Federal Student Aid Office

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, issued the following statement in response to reports that the Trump administration is moving to strip the Federal Student Aid office out of the Department of Education: “When did creating an entirely new federal agency to do the exact same work that’s already being done equate to efficiency? The law is clear: Federal Student Aid belongs at the Department of Education, and the Trump administration cannot move it without an act of Congress—nor have they even bothered consulting Congress. “This office manages more than $1.6 trillion in debts owed by more than 40 million borrowers—tens of millions of Americans are depending on government to actually work here. Trump has already pushed out nearly half its staff—this intentional sabotage only threatens to create true financial chaos in people’s lives. “Every family filling out the FAFSA, every student counting on a Pell Grant, and every borrower trying to make a student loan payment will pay for Trump’s idiotic obsession with abolishing the Department of Education. Americans do not support abolishing the Department of Education—they just want a financial aid system that works. I will keep fighting to block this illegal move every way I can, and it is past time for Republicans to join Democrats and put an end to this nonsense.” Senator Murray has led the fight against the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the Department of Education. As Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Murray helped negotiate the fiscal year 2026 funding bill for the Department. That bill rejected $12 billion in proposed cuts to the Department of Education and President Trump’s request to abolish it . Murray also fought to include ironclad language in the bill barring Secretary McMahon from using illegal interagency agreements to strip out the Department’s core responsibilities and hand them over to other agencies—Republicans refused, and Murray has continued to push back as the Department has signed new agreements. In July, Murray offered three amendments in the HELP Committee to stop these illegal transfers. Murray was successful in passing an amendment with strong bipartisan support out of committee which would require the Department to tell Congress and the public what each illegal interagency agreement costs taxpayers. Murray has also unflinchingly called attention to the administration’s nonstop efforts to block critical funds for students and teachers at every turn, issuing a statement just yesterday to call attention to the administration’s latest efforts to cut grant funding—and always using every tool at her disposal to stand up for public education. Murray forcefully opposed McMahon’s nomination from the outset. She has called attention to the administration’s mass firings at the Department at every turn, she has led public forums in the Senate on the damage the Trump administration is doing to public education, and she has rallied with students and teachers to stand up for the critical support the Department of Education provides America’s students. Senator Murray has championed students and families at every stage of her career—fighting to help ensure every child in America can get a high-quality public education. Among other things, Senator Murray negotiated the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), landmark legislation that she got signed into law, replacing the broken No Child Left Behind Act. As a longtime appropriator, she has successfully fought to boost funding to support students and invest in our nation’s K-12 schools, and she has secured significant increases to the Pell Grant so that it goes further for students pursuing a higher education. Senator Murray also successfully negotiated the FAFSA Simplification Act, bipartisan legislation to reform the financial aid application process, simplify the FAFSA form for students and parents, and significantly expand eligibility for federal aid. ###