HELP FEDs Act

119 HR 5816 IH: Halting Education Loan Payments during Federal Employment Disruptions Act U.S. House of Representatives 2025-10-24 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. I 119th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 5816 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. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Halting Education Loan Payments during Federal Employment Disruptions Act or the HELP FEDs Act . 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.