Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz has asked the inspector general to investigate whether Education Secretary Miguel Cardona engaged in illegal political activity, according to a letter sent Wednesday.
According to Sen. Cruz’s letter, obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation, Cruz argued that the message Cardona sent on July 15 to students benefiting from President Biden’s loan forgiveness plan was “clearly political and may violate Department policy and various federal laws.” Cruz sent the letter Wednesday to Inspector General Sandra D. Bruce, arguing that Cardona’s actions “merit a formal investigation.”
Cruz said Cardona “used taxpayer dollars, department resources, and his own official time and position to support the Biden-Harris Administration’s campaign and disparage public officials of the other party,” and that his messaging “specifically and repeatedly attacks Republican public officials.” (RELATED: Watchdog says Biden violated law by using his office to attack Republicans)
“In recent weeks, several federal courts have ruled in lawsuits brought by Republican elected officials who are siding with special interests to deny Americans the benefits of the Savings on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan, the most affordable student loan repayment plan in history,” Cardona’s message said, according to Cruz.
In his message, Cardona said he and Biden would continue to push for student loan forgiveness “no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to block it.”
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona attends a panel discussion with nine outstanding scholars at Claflin University in Orangeburg, South Carolina, on September 20, 2022. (Photo by Collin Myers/Claflin University/HBCU via Getty Images)
Cruz said Cardona’s messages could violate the Hatch Act. prohibit Prohibits federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity in their capacity as public officials to influence elections, specifically “activity directed toward the success or failure of a political party, a candidate for partisan political office, or a partisan political group.”
With the presidential election approaching, Cruz said he was concerned that Cardona’s letter amounted to a coordinated political attack by the Biden-Harris campaign. On the day Cardona sent his letter, Biden had not yet withdrawn from the 2024 election.
“[G]”Despite this being a presidential election year, the repeated references to Republican elected officials suggest that the letter is a call for recipients, and voters in general, to take action against these officials, either by voting against them at the polls or by contacting their elected representatives to voice their opposition to their policy positions,” Cruz said.
Cardona’s July 15 letter came after a federal judge in June struck down parts of Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, ruling it “unconstitutional,” after an appeals court later temporarily blocked the plan. In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a previous debt forgiveness plan that would have wiped out $400 billion in student loan debt.
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen and Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach sent a letter to the Hatch Act special counsel on July 25 alleging “egregious” violations, as first reported by Fox News. reportKobach helped promote a June lawsuit against the Biden administration that blocked the plan.
The letter was signed by Senator Cruz and Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina.
Cardona’s office and the Department of Education did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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