Today, I vetoed H.J. Res. 76, which sought to overturn a rule from the Department of Education that protects students and taxpayers. H.J. Res. 76 sought to reimpose an Obama-era regulation that defined educational fraud so broadly that it threatened to paralyze the Nation’s system of higher education. The Department of Education’s rule strikes a better balance, protecting students’ rights to recover from schools that defraud them while foreclosing frivolous lawsuits that undermine higher education and expose taxpayers to needless loss.
Many Historically Black College and University (HBCU) leaders believe that the Obama-era rule that H.J. Res. 76 sought to reinstate would have irreparably harmed their great institutions. As President, I have been strongly committed to fighting for HBCUs. As I have said before, HBCUs have never had a better champion in the White House. My disapproval of this resolution is another marker of that support.
I urge Members of Congress to sustain my veto, and to stand with HBCUs and students against the trial lawyers who want to undermine our higher education system for their own financial gain.
