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To prohibit penalties, interest accrual, negative credit implications, or other adverse actions for qualified student loans for Federal employees during a lapse in Federal funding.
Summary
This bill protects Federal employees' student loans during government funding lapses or shutdowns by prohibiting late fees, penalties, and other adverse actions on qualifying education loans when payments are missed due to involuntary disruption of pay. The bill also prohibits additional interest from accruing during the disruption period and prevents adverse credit reporting to consumer reporting agencies related to delayed or missed payments. The Secretary of Education must coordinate with loan servicers and credit agencies to implement these protections within 30 days, and the bill applies retroactively to disruptions occurring on or after October 1, 2025, requiring removal of any inappropriately reported adverse credit information.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
15 cosponsors
- Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC)
- Rep. Carson, André [D-IN-7] (D-IN)
- Rep. Carter, Troy A. [D-LA-2] (D-LA)
- Rep. Costa, Jim [D-CA-21] (D-CA)
- Rep. Craig, Angie [D-MN-2] (D-MN)
- Rep. Evans, Dwight [D-PA-3] (D-PA)
- Rep. Fields, Cleo [D-LA-6] (D-LA)
- Rep. Figures, Shomari [D-AL-2] (D-AL)
- Rep. Goldman, Daniel S. [D-NY-10] (D-NY)
- Rep. Jackson, Jonathan L. [D-IL-1] (D-IL)
- Rep. Landsman, Greg [D-OH-1] (D-OH)
- Rep. McIver, LaMonica [D-NJ-10] (D-NJ)
- Rep. Thompson, Bennie G. [D-MS-2] (D-MS)
- Rep. Velázquez, Nydia M. [D-NY-7] (D-NY)
- Rep. Wilson, Frederica S. [D-FL-24] (D-FL)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Jasmine Crockett’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- DHR HEALTH $14,500
- MILLER WEISBROD OLESKY $7,750
- MATTHEWS SOUTHWEST $6,600
- COINBASE $6,600
- PIVOTAL VENTURES $6,600
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Jasmine Crockett → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Oct 24, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce. · house
- Oct 24, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 24, 2025
Ms. Crockett introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce
A BILL
To prohibit penalties, interest accrual, negative credit implications, or other adverse actions for qualified student loans for Federal employees during a lapse in Federal funding.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Halting Education Loan Payments during Federal Employment Disruptions Act” or the “HELP FEDs Act”.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Federal employee.—The term “Federal employee” means—
(A) an employee as defined in section 2105 of title 5, United States Code;
(B) an employee as defined in section 2107 of title 5, United States Code; and
(C) a judicial employee as defined in section 13101(9) of title 5, United States Code.
(2) Qualified education loan.—The term “qualified education loan” means any loan made, insured, or guaranteed under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1071-1087ii), including loans held by the Department of Education or contracted loan servicers.
(3) Involuntary disruption of pay.—The term “involuntary disruption of pay” means a situation where a Federal employee does not receive their scheduled wages due to a lapse in funding resulting in the Federal Government to cease operations as identified under section 1341 of title 31, United States Code.
SEC. 3. PROTECTION FROM PENALTIES AND ADVERSE CREDIT ACTIONS DURING INVOLUNTARY DISRUPTION OF PAY.
(a) Waiver of Penalties and Late Fees.—No Federal employee shall be assessed any late fee, penalty, or other adverse action on any qualified education loan for any payment missed due during a period of involuntary disruption of pay.
(b) Waiver on Interest Accrual.—No Federal employee shall incur additional interest on any qualified education loan during a period of involuntary disruption of pay.
(c) No Adverse Credit Reporting.—The Secretary of Education shall coordinate with credit reporting agencies and loan servicers to ensure that no adverse information related to delayed or missed payments of a Federal employee described in subsection (a) is furnished to any consumer reporting agency, as defined in section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a).
(d) Retroactive Application.—This section shall apply retroactively to any instance of involuntary disruption of pay occurring on or after October 1, 2025. The Secretary shall coordinate with credit reporting agencies and loan servicers to remove any adverse credit information that was inappropriately reported.
SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION.
(a) In General.—The Secretary of Education, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, the Clerk of the House of Representatives, and Secretary of the Senate, shall issue regulations and guidance for the Department, borrowers, loan servicers, and credit agencies necessary to implement this Act within 30 days of the date of enactment of this Act.
(b) Compliance and Enforcement.—Loan servicers and credit reporting agencies shall cooperate fully with the Secretary of Education in implementing this Act.
SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to excuse the full repayment of qualified education loans or to eliminate any otherwise existing repayment obligation.
SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY.
If any provision of this Act, or the application of such provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remainder of this Act shall not be affected. <all>
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