The administration, which wants to close the Education Department, hasn’t said how it would move the $1.7 trillion portfolio to a new agency. Democrats say doing so would be a “clear violation” of the law.

President Trump moving student loans from the Education Department to the Small Business Administration (SBA) is rattling those affected, who say it is prime evidence that the White House has no real plan for its efforts to dismantle the Department of Education.

President Donald Trump has begun sketching a roadmap for dismantling the Education Department, with other agencies taking over responsibility for federal student loans and programs serving students with disabilities.