Federal Government Drops Appeal on Public Student Loan Forgiveness Win
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In June, the U.S. District Court in D.C., in the case titled RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights v. McMahon, struck down a Department of Education rule that would have disqualified non-profit employers from the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program if the Department deemed them to have a “substantial illegal purpose.” Today, the Department dropped its appeal of that ruling.
The rule’s broad language targeted organizations engaged in activities the Trump administration doesn’t like, including supporting immigrants and providing gender affirming care. The rule threatened to disqualify as many as 2.5 million federal student loan borrowers from benefiting from the PSLF program.
The Department of Education’s decision to drop the appeal is an important win, confirming that the administration cannot exclude people from federal programs just because their or their employers’ values don’t align with the Trump administration.
Statement from Cormac Early, lead attorney for the plaintiffs and attorney for Public Citizen Litigation Group:
“The Trump administration never had a legal basis for politicizing the public service loan forgiveness program. Now, nonprofit and public service workers who support immigrant and other vulnerable communities can continue their work without the threat of retribution.”
Read more about the lawsuit here.