The federal government can take 15% of your paycheck without court involvement in the process, known as Administrative Wage Garnishment. This process gives the Department of Education direct power over your earnings without a judge involved. The government can order your employer to withhold up to 15% per paycheck once a federal student loan enters default status. Once that threshold is crossed, the Department begins garnishment proceedings without filing a lawsuit or obtaining a court judgment against you. The maximum amount of disposable pay is what remains after legally required deductions such as federal income taxes, state taxes, local taxes, and Social Security contributions are subtracted from earnings. However, voluntary deductions like health insurance premiums, retirement contributions, and union dues are not factored into the disposable pay calculation under federal rules. Approximately 5.5 million federal student debt borrowers are already in default, and an additional 3.7 million are more than 270 days late on their payments. The Education Department has announced a temporary delay of involuntary collections on federal student loans.