EXCLUSIVE: Ted Cruz Demands Investigation Into Education Sec Over ‘Overtly Political’ Student Loan Letter

Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz urged the inspector general to investigate whether Education Secretary Miguel Cardona illegally engaged in political activity, according to a letter sent Wednesday.

Cruz alleged that a message Cardona sent on July 15 to students benefiting from President Biden’s loan forgiveness plan “was overtly political and may violate Department policy and various federal laws,” according to the senator’s letter, obtained by the 🏢Daily Caller News Foundation. Cruz sent the letter to Inspector General Sandra D. Bruce on Wednesday, claiming Cardona’s actions “merit a formal investigation.”

Cruz said Cardona used “taxpayer dollars, Department resources, and his official time and position to aid the Biden-Harris administration’s election efforts and impugn elected officials from another political party,” and that his message “explicitly attacks Republican elected officials multiple times.”

“In recent weeks, several federal courts have issued rulings in lawsuits brought by Republican elected officials who are siding with special interests and trying to block Americans from accessing all the benefits of the most affordable student loan repayment plan in history – the SAVE (Saving on a Valuable Education) Plan,” Cardona’s message said, according to Cruz.

Cardona said in his message that he and Biden would continue to push student loan forgiveness “no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stop us.”

Cruz said Cardona’s message may violate the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity in their official capacity to influence elections, specifically “activity directed toward the success or failure of a political party, candidate for partisan political office, or partisan political group.”