BETSY DEVOS/EDUCATION/TRUMP PEOPLE: “The Trump administration has enlisted several outside consultants to examine the costs of the Education Department’s $1.5 trillion student loan portfolio and has considered options for selling off some of the debt to private investors, according to federal procurement records and department officials. The Education Department last month hired FI Consulting, an economic consulting firm, to conduct an analysis of the ‘economic value’ of the federal government’s student loan portfolio, according to procurement records. Selling off parts of the federal student loan portfolio would be at least unusual, if not unprecedented. And it would also face a number of legal and political complications. The Education Department has for decades had the authority under the Higher Education Act to sell federal student loans after consulting with the Treasury Department and only if the transaction would not cost taxpayers money. Most federal student loan programs operate at a profit to the government, so their sale would likely be booked as a cost to taxpayers, at least under the current accounting rules.”
–Michael Stratford, “DeVos hires consultants to examine student loan portfolio,” Politico, May 2, 2019 5:06 am