Proposals Aim to Halt Social Security Offsets for Student Loan Debt Repayment

Two new bills in Congress would stop the federal government from garnishing Social Security benefits to collect unpaid student loans. Under current law, the government can take up to 15% of a monthly Social Security check to recover defaulted federal loans. Based on the average retirement benefit of about $2,087 a month as of August, according to the Social Security Administration, that is a cut of about $313 a month, MarketWatch reported.

Collections are currently paused, but the power to resume them remains in place.

The two proposals

The Protection of Social Security Benefits Restoration Act was introduced by Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, and Rep. Adelita Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat. It would restore protections that existed before 1996, when the federal government gained the authority to claw back Social Security benefits to collect delinquent federal nontax debts such as student loans.

"Social Security should not be able to garnish benefits that American workers earned over a lifetime of hard work on account of outstanding student debt or other federal loans," Wyden said in a statement.

The second bill, the Stop Social Security Garnishment Act, comes from Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, and is co-sponsored by Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, both Massachusetts Democrats. It was announced in August and introduced in September. "No senior should have their Social Security payments taken away from them to pay back student debt," Sanders said in a statement, pointing to the cost of health care, prescription drugs, groceries and housing.

Both bills come from Democrats and the independent Sanders. The report did not indicate whether either has Republican support or a scheduled vote.

Where garnishment stands now

Collections have been on hold almost continuously since the pandemic. Garnishment of Social Security was paused during the pandemic, resumed briefly in May 2025 and was paused again the following month. In January, the Education Department delayed it again to allow time to put in place new repayment plans created under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law last year. Garnishments have not resumed.

The amounts at stake have grown over time. The Education Department collected $16.2 million in Social Security benefits in 2001 and $429.7 million in 2019, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In 2019, the average amount taken from an individual beneficiary was $186 a month.

Why older borrowers are the focus

Student debt is no longer concentrated among the young. About 9.6 million borrowers age 50 and older hold nearly $457 billion in outstanding student loans, according to the Education Department. Among federal loans, borrowers aged 50 to 61 carry the highest average balance, at $48,875, according to the Education Data Initiative.

Debt in older households more broadly is also rising. In 2022, 53% of households headed by someone 75 or older carried debt, up from 32% in 1992, according to the Federal Reserve. "Older debtors are the fastest-growing demographic of debtors," said Eleni Schirmer, an organizer with the Debt Collective, a debtor advocacy group.

For many of these households, Social Security is the only source of income. According to the Senior Citizens League, 44% of older Americans rely on the program for all of their income, up from 39% in 2025. Retirees with debt also have few ways to pay it down: retirement can last 20 to 30 years, living costs continue to climb, and finding work late in life is difficult.

The bills in committee and the Education Department

• Whether either bill advances in committee or gains Republican co-sponsors.
• Any announcement from the Education Department on when, or whether, Social Security garnishment will resume.
• The rollout of the new repayment plans under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which the department cited as the reason for the latest delay.