Top Betsy DeVos appointee will resign and decry the entire student loan system

(Image credit: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

This isn't exactly what you'd expect from a Betsy DeVos appointee.

A. Wayne Johnson, who the education secretary appointed as COO of the Office of Federal Student Aid in 2017, has announced he'll resign Thursday. And based on what he saw in the office, he'll start pushing for a dismantling of the student loan system as it (dis)functions today, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Johnson first served as COO and then chief strategy and transformation officer in the student aid office, "leading a revamp of how the agency deals with borrowers and the companies that service the debt," The Wall Street Journal writes. Along the way, he found a "fundamentally broken" system where repayment trends indicate large amounts of debt will never be paid back, he tells the Journal. So Johnson says he'll take his plan to "stop the insanity" to the Senate, where he's seeking Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp's appointment to replace retiring Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.). He's proposing forgiving up to $50,000 in debt for every federal borrower, and giving a $50,000 tax credit to those who've already repaid.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

DeVos, meanwhile, told Fox News on Wednesday that 2020 Democrats' plans to cancel student loan debt are "crazy," asking "who do they think is actually going to pay for these?" Johnson answered that with a proposed 1 percent tax on all employers, including nonprofits, per the Journal-Constitution. DeVos has been known to cancel student loan debt once in a while, but only for students defrauded when their school shut down, and only "with extreme displeasure."

Explore More

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.