Comments in Response to Department of Education: Negotiated Rulemaking Committee

COMMENTS SUMMARY

The New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) appreciates the opportunity to speak at the recent Department of Education public hearing on July 18, 2023 and welcomes the chance to also provide written comment regarding the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee, 88 Fed. Reg. 128 (Jul. 6, 2023). NCLA opposes the development of new regulations for Federal Student Aid programs under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), and urges the Department not to pursue regulations that would attempt to forgive hundreds of billions in student loan debt without involving Congress.

The Department must stop legislating new programs in the Executive Branch, which is not
the proper branch for lawmaking. The Vesting Clause of Article I, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution states that, “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States.” U.S. Const. art. I, § 1. Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution, the Appropriations Clause, ensures that Congress—not the Department of Education—will have control over federal expenditures. Id. art. I, § 9. It provides that, “No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.”