This is going to be an interesting piece of legislation to watch. Let’s see how well they hold up against the lobbyist. They are always accusing the Republicans of catering to big business.
Will they fight or cave?

With the House set to take up legislation this week that would sharply cut subsidies to student loan companies by about $19 billion, lenders are trying to do something they have barely had to bother with in recent years: appeal to Democrats.

The companies have been scouring for partners in the Democratic base to help them make their case against the bill and a companion one in the Senate.

Sallie Mae, the nation’s largest lender, has met with representatives of historically black colleges; with Michael L. Lomax, chief executive of the United Negro College Fund; and with members of the Congressional Black Caucus, arguing that cuts in lender subsidies could make it harder for black students to borrow.

Tom Joyce, a spokesman for Sallie Mae, said the company was talking to other institutions, too. “We’re certainly letting schools know that now is the time to weigh in with their views,” Mr. Joyce said.

The Consumer Bankers Association, for its part, reached out to organized labor, directly contacting union locals around the country. In one case, union officials were asked to sign a letter to Democratic lawmakers, warning that changes to the loan program could make it harder for students to pay for college.

The lenders have assembled an armada of Democratic lobbyists and communications specialists. Sallie Mae, for example, hired former Senator John B. Breaux, a Louisiana Democrat, as well as Mark Schuermann, a former senior aide to former Representative Harold E. Ford Jr., a Tennessee Democrat who lost his bid for a Senate seat last year

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