Courts

Federal Judge Fully Prepared To Rip Betsy DeVos A New One For Disobeying Order On Student Loans

Will it be contempt, sanctions, or jail? Hmm...

By Staci Zaretsky on October 08, 2019 2:43 pm

Betsy DeVos (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

At best it is gross negligence, at worst it’s an intentional flouting of my order. I’m not sure if this is contempt or sanctions. I’m not sending anyone to jail yet but it’s good to know I have that ability.

— Judge Sallie Kim, in comments made to attorneys from the Department of Education during a hearing, where she expressed astonishment that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos had continued to collect on former students’ loans from the now-defunct for-profit Corinthian Colleges Inc., even seizing their tax refunds and wages, despite a June 2018 order forbidding further collection on loans that should have been forgiven. “There have to be consequences for violation of my order sixteen thousand times,” Kim said.

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.