Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced Monday he will introduce legislation seeking to prevent the federal government from garnishing Social Security benefits for seniors with unpaid student loan payments.
The bill, titled the Stop Social Security Garnishment Act of 2026, proposes barring the Education Department from cutting an individual’s Social Security retirement or disability benefits to offset their outstanding student loan debt.
It also would protect older adults against “unnecessary forced collections” and ensure they have access to their Social Security payments to pay for expenses such as healthcare, medicine and groceries, according to a summary of the legislation.
Sanders will introduce the bill when the upper chamber returns from recess on Sept. 14, a spokesperson for the senator told The Hill.
Roughly 1 in 5 student loan borrowers are at least 50 years old, with borrowers aged 50-61 having the highest average balance of $48,875, according to the Education Data Initiative.
In the second quarter of this year, about 7.8 percent of borrowers were delinquent — meaning they missed at least three monthly payments — according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Nine million Americans are in default on their loans, with 1 in 4 borrowers at risk of the federal government seizing their wages to pay them back, according to Sanders’s office.
The Education Department in January delayed involuntary collections on federal student loans to allow for the implementation of changes to repayment programs codified by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Pursuant to that legislation, which President Trump signed into law in July 2025, the department reduced the number of federal student loan repayment plans and introduced two new plans at the start of last month: a tiered standard repayment plan and an income-driven repayment plan.
The department said in January the delay in collections will give defaulted borrowers time to “evaluate” the new repayment options and begin the “rehabilitation process” for their loans.
But Sanders sounded the alarm Monday, saying “an increasing number of seniors are in danger of having their Social Security checks garnished to pay back student loans they took out decades ago,” a situation he called “beyond unacceptable.”
The progressive senator added in a release, “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.
“This is especially true when seniors throughout the country already cannot afford the skyrocketing price of healthcare, prescription drugs, groceries and housing. Congress must pass this legislation.”
The Hill has reached out to the Education Department for an update regarding its collections policy.
Massachusetts Democratic Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren are joining Sanders as co-sponsors of the legislation, according to the Vermont senator’s office. Markey is facing a primary challenge from Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), with that election two weeks away.
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