Senators on Capitol Hill voted on Wednesday to reject a student loan rule proposed by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos that would have changed how defrauded students sought relief.

The GOP-controlled Senate passed S.J.Res.56, which is a version of a bill that reverses DeVos’ new rule on how her department processes debt relief claims made by students who had been defrauded by mainly for-profit colleges that were deemed predatory.

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Experts widely considered the new regulations to be more cumbersome for the students, and consumer advocates filed a lawsuit against the proposed policy change.

“This vote shows that Congress is finally willing to hold this administration accountable for Secretary Betsy DeVos’ repeated protection of exploitative schools,” Ben Miller, vice president for Postsecondary Education at the Center for American Progress, said in a statement. “This administration’s borrower defense rule used the wheels of bureaucracy to crush ripped-off students through unfair evidence standards and a process they had no hope of successfully completing. We are glad to see bipartisan recognition of these flaws.”

In January, House Democrats had voted to rejected DeVos’ new rules, using the Congressional Review Act. On Wednesday, the Senate voted to pass the Senate version of the House bill, 53-42, with 10 Republican votes.

Before Wednesday’s vote, Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) emphasized how much was at stake for these students.

“Many of these students incurred substantial student debt based on the representations and misrepresentations of these colleges and universities,” he stated. “Now they find out the school have gone bankrupt in some cases... here’s the student deep in debt having wasted years of their lives in these for-profit colleges.”

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten applauded the vote and Durbin’s efforts: “In a time of great political divide, it’s clear that the secretary’s efforts to privilege profiteers at the expense of students can no longer be above reproach. America is onto Betsy DeVos. We thank Sen. Richard Durbin for his leadership, and all the Democrats and Republicans who voted to reject DeVos’ poisonous agenda.”

Borrower defense rule designed to help victims of fraud

The borrower defense rule was written into law through the Higher Education Act in the early 1990s. It was meant to help victims of fraudulent schools seek relief.

Under existing law, borrowers with federal loans are eligible for loan forgiveness if a college or a university has misled them or engaged in other misconduct in violation of certain state laws.