Student debt relief activists march near the U.S. Capitol in 2023 in Washington D.C. Monday, 22 state attorneys general filed suit against the Department of Education for a recent rule change on the Public Service Loan Forgiveness plan. File Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI | License Photo
New York Attorney General Letitia James and 21 other attorneys general filed suit against the Department of Education and Secretary Linda MacMahon on Monday for a change in policy to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness plan.
On Thursday, the Trump administration announced the final rule on a plan that excluded borrowers who work for organizations that support “illegal immigration, child trafficking, pervasive damage to public property and disruption of the public order.”
“Public Service Loan Forgiveness was created as a promise to teachers, nurses, firefighters, and social workers that their service to our communities would be honored,” James said in a statement. “Instead, this administration has created a political loyalty test disguised as a regulation. It is unjust and unlawful to cut off loan forgiveness for hardworking Americans based on ideology. I will not let our federal government punish New York’s public servants for doing their jobs or standing up for our values.”
The PSLF program allows those who work in public service jobs or for non-profits for 10 years and make payments on their loans during that time to get their federal loans forgiven. It was started by Congress in 2007 to encourage college graduates to enter fields such as teaching and social work, which typically don’t pay high salaries.
“Attorney General James and the coalition emphasize that if this policy stands, hardworking teachers, nurses, social workers and other public servants could wake up one day to find that they no longer qualify for PSLF because their employer has fallen out of favor with the current administration in Washington, D.C.,” the press release said.
The jurisdictions named in the lawsuit are: New York, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.
“It is unconscionable that the plaintiffs are standing up for criminal activity,” Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent said in a statement, The Hill reported. “This is a commonsense reform that will stop taxpayer dollars from subsidizing organizations involved in terrorism, child trafficking, and transgender procedures that are doing irreversible harm to children.”
Another lawsuit against the administration for the PSLF change was filed Monday, led by Democracy Forward and Protect Borrowers. It includes several cities, non-profits and unions.
“This administration has, yet again, unlawfully targeted people who work in the public interest. And so we again are in court,” said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, in a statement. “Politically motivated retaliation, like what the administration has done here, should have no place in America. We are honored to represent this powerful coalition in defense of the people’s rights.”
Persis Yu, deputy executive director and managing counsel at Protect Borrowers, said the new rule is “an illegal attempt to weaponize the federal government against its own people. The Trump-Vance Administration is telling a generation of dedicated public servants that their work only counts if it aligns with a [Make America Great Again] political agenda. This betrays the nonpartisan promise of PSLF and the core principles of our nation. They are silencing dissent and trying to dismantle the very institutions that hold power accountable. We will not let this stand.”
Both cases were filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
