I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5843 
To provide Federal student loan borrower relief for Federal employees. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 28, 2025 
Ms. ELFRETH (for herself, Mr. CARSON, Mr. FIGURES, Mr. IVEY, Ms. LEE 
of Pennsylvania, Mr. MFUME, Ms. NORTON, Mr. OLSZEWSKI, and Mr. 
WALKINSHAW) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and Workforce 
A BILL 
To provide Federal student loan borrower relief for Federal 
employees. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Shutdown Student 
Loans for Feds Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN BORROWER RELIEF FOR 
FEDERAL EMPLOYEES. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
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(1) the term ‘‘agency’’ means each authority of 
the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the 
Government of the United States; and 
(2) the term ‘‘covered individual’’— 
(A) means an employee of an agency, with-
out regard to whether the employee is, during 
a period during which there is a lapse in appro-
priations with respect to the agency— 
(i) determined to be an excepted em-
ployee or an employee performing emer-
gency work, as those terms are defined by 
the Office of Personnel Management; or 
(ii) subject to furlough; 
(B) includes a contractor who— 
(i) as part of the ordinary job duties 
of the individual, provides support to any 
employee described in subparagraph (A); 
and 
(ii) during a lapse in appropriations 
with respect to the applicable agency, does 
not provide the services described in clause 
(i); and 
(C) does not include an individual de-
scribed in subparagraph (A) or (B) who, during 
a period during which there is a lapse in appro-
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priations with respect to the applicable agency, 
is paid the basic pay ordinarily payable to the 
individual. 
(b) RELIEF.—During any period in fiscal year 2026 
or any subsequent fiscal year during which there is a lapse 
in appropriations of not less than 14 days with respect 
to an agency, the Secretary of Education shall suspend 
all payments due by covered individuals for loans made 
under part D of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.). 
(c) NO ACCRUAL OF INTEREST.—Notwithstanding 
any other provision of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), interest shall not accrue on a 
loan described under subsection (b) for which payment 
was suspended for the period of the suspension. 
(d) 
CONSIDERATION
OF
PAYMENTS.—Notwith-
standing any other provision of the Higher Education Act 
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), the Secretary shall deem 
each month for which a loan payment was suspended 
under this section as if the borrower of the loan had made 
a payment for the purpose of any loan forgiveness pro-
gram authorized under part D of title IV of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.) for 
which the borrower would have otherwise qualified. 
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(e) REPORTING TO CONSUMER REPORTING AGEN-
CIES.—During the period in which the Secretary suspends 
payments on a loan under subsection (b), the Secretary 
shall ensure that, for the purpose of reporting information 
about the loan to a consumer reporting agency, any pay-
ment that has been suspended is treated as if it were a 
regularly scheduled payment made by a covered individual. 
(f) RETROACTIVE EFFECTIVE DATE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—This Act shall take effect as 
if enacted on September 30, 2025. 
(2) REFUNDS.—The Secretary of Education 
may issue a refund for any loan payment made by 
a covered individual— 
(A) for a loan made under part D of title 
IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1087a et seq.) during any period in fis-
cal year 2026 or any subsequent fiscal year 
during which there is a lapse in appropriations 
of not less than 14 days with respect to the 
agency at which the individual is an employee; 
and 
(B) if requested by such covered indi-
vidual. 
Æ 
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