navientPodesta Group navigates the D.C. political scene for Navient Solutions Inc. as Democrats push to revamp the $1.2T student loan sector.

Navient services Dept. of Education and private sector loans and develops asset recovery solutions. It was spun off on April 30 from SLM Corp., the predecessor corporation to Sallie Mae.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced May 14 a settlement with subsidiaries of SLM Corp. and Navient Corp. for alleged unfair and deceptive practices related to student loans.

SLM and Navient were ordered to pay $6.6 million in penalties, $30 million in restitution to harmed borrowers, and fund a $60 million settlement fund with the U.S. Department of Justice.

In its first quarterly release as a public company, Navient earned $307M on $11.8B total assets in the June-ended period.

On June 13, DOE extended the company's contract to handle 5.8M accounts in its Direct Student Loan Program for five years.

Tony Podesta spearheads the lobbying push for Navient. Lauren Maddox (ex-assistant secretary for communications/outreach at DOE), Paul Brathwaite (one-time executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus) and Oscar Ramirez (chief of staff to former Labor Secretary Hilda Solis) join Podesta on the business.