The Department of Education confirmed Tuesday it will not move forward with a previously-floated plan to garnish Social Security benefits for individuals who have defaulted on student loans.

Collections on federal student loans in default restarted in May after they were paused for five years due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

At the time, loans in collections may have resulted in Social Security garnishments for older borrowers. But the Education Department said Tuesday it would take steps to preserve Social Security benefits.

“The Department has not offset any social security benefits since restarting collections on May 5, and has put a pause on any future social security offsets," said Ellen Keast, a department spokeswoman. "The Trump Administration is committed to protecting social

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