A Democratic senator is preventing a full Senate vote to confirm James Kvaal as under secretary at the Department of Education, even though his nomination was reported out favorably by a Senate committee in April.
The unnamed senator is reportedly pressing for the Biden administration to broadly cancel student loan debt, according to a report by Bloomberg Government. And with the Senate split evenly between the two parties, it's harder for Democrats to move forward with a member of their own party holding up a vote on the top higher education post at the department.
The Department of Education and the Department of Justice have been examining President Biden's legal authority to cancel student debt through executive action after Biden asked for the review in February. Further action has yet to be taken.
Opinions on Inside Higher Ed
Inside Higher Ed’s Blog U
Trending Stories
Most Shared Stories
- Higher education should prepare for five new realities (opinion) | Inside Higher Ed
- A burned-out professor declares academic chapter 11 (opinion) | Inside Higher Ed
- UF seems to endorse new state anti-CRT law
- Professor calls the police on two tardy Black students
- People who work in higher ed must set professional boundaries (opinion) | Inside Higher Ed
We have retired comments and introduced Letters to the Editor. Letters may be sent to [email protected].
Read the Letters to the Editor »