In a sudden policy shift, the Trump administration has hit the “pause” button on plans to take student loan payments directly from workers’ paychecks. The U.S. Department of Education announced that it is temporarily stopping wage garnishment—the process where the government legally takes a portion of a person’s salary to pay off overdue debts. This “temporary delay” will persist until the department implements new student debt repayment and rehabilitation options outlined in recent legislation.
It is common practice for students including Ghanaians in the U.S. to take student loans and it could take some up to ten years after school to finish paying their loans. These were at risk of this policy but can now heave some sigh of relief following its suspension.
Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent stated that department officials determined garnishment will function more efficiently and fairly once these new options are in effect. Speaking to reporters in Rhode Island, Education Secretary Linda McMahon confirmed the government had paused the program “for a bit” in response to questions about Americans facing worsening financial struggles.
The about-face comes as President Donald Trump is rolling out a raft of policy proposals and actions aimed at easing Americans’ financial hardship and centering affordability in political messaging ahead of consequential midterm elections in November. So far in 2026, Trump has called for a 10% interest rate cap on credit card debt, a ban on corporate investors buying up homes, and a bid to make tech companies pay for surging electrical costs caused by proliferating data centers.
The Education Department had announced last month that it would resume wage garnishment for student loan borrowers after a more than five-year hiatus, with an initial batch of 1,000 affected borrowers due to have been notified last week. The administration originally planned to send larger batches of notifications to borrowers each month through the year.
Only borrowers in default, meaning those who have not made a payment on their student loans in over a year, are subject to wage garnishment. There are currently 5 million borrowers in default, according to government data. However, that number could balloon this year, as an additional 6 million borrowers are in delinquency. Furthermore, legislative changes to student debt relief, such as the elimination of some income-based repayment programs for new borrowers, could exacerbate the default rate.
