AsianFin -- The U.S. Department of Education is pausing its plan to seize Social Security benefits from borrowers who have defaulted on their student loans, a spokesperson for the agency told CNBC.

“The Trump Administration is committed to protecting Social Security recipients who oftentimes rely on a fixed income,” said Ellen Keast, a spokesperson for the department.

The move marks a sudden reversal in policy. Just weeks earlier, on April 21, the administration announced it would resume debt collection on the country’s $1.6 trillion student loan portfolio. For nearly five years, borrowers had been shielded from such actions under pandemic-era relief measures.