Cities, Unions, Civil Society Organizations Sue Trump-Vance Administration for Weaponizing Public Service Loan Forgiveness to Silence Critics and Stifle Dissent

Suit Seeks to Halt Radical PSLF Rewrite in United Front Against Department of Education’s Unconstitutional Attack on Teachers, Nurses, First Responders, and Advocates

WASHINGTON — A broad coalition of over a dozen cities, labor unions, and nonprofit organizations filed a lawsuit today against the U.S. Department of Education (ED). The suit charges the Trump-Vance Administration with illegally hijacking the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program to silence governments and nonprofit organizations that do work the Administration doesn’t like. The Administration’s action breaks a decades-old bipartisan Congressional promise to support those who choose to dedicate their careers to public service.

Plaintiffs include the City of Albuquerque, City of Boston, City of Chicago, City and County of San Francisco, County of Santa Clara, Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, Legal Aid DC, National Association of Social Workers, National Council of Nonprofits, Oasis Legal Services, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFT and the National Education Association. The coalition is represented by Protect Borrowers and Democracy Forward in this matter; the County of Santa Clara and City and County of San Francisco represent themselves.

Public service employers and organizations representing public service workers warn that any effort to weaponize PSLF will have a chilling effect on the entire public service workforce. For example, cities across the nation employ teachers, firefighters, and healthcare workers who risk losing access to debt relief should the Trump-Vance Administration seek to punish their city for policies they do not like.

A copy of the lawsuit, National Council of Nonprofits et al. v. McMahon, is available here.

“Public Service Loan Forgiveness was created by a Republican president and Democratic senators to help attract and retain teachers, nurses, firefighters and so many others who’ve dedicated their careers to helping others,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten. “Trump wants to change that by imposing an ideological litmus test on millions of public servants and their employers that’s antithetical to American values and contrary to the statute at hand. It’s an illegal attack on those who placed their faith in PSLF’s bipartisan promise, only to see it cruelly ripped away. It will chill protected speech, drain talent from desperately needed jobs helping vulnerable communities, and saddle remaining workers with an insurmountable debt load. For years, the AFT has fought to ensure the promise of PSLF was a promise kept. We sued Betsy DeVos and rogue loan servicers for their failure to administer the program—and we won. And, last month, we forced the administration to resume income-driven repayment plans. This latest assault on borrowers’ livelihoods is part of a plot to once again undermine college affordability and it’s why we’re heading back to court.”

Quotes from other plaintiffs are available here.

The new PSLF rule would allow the Secretary of Education to disqualify government and nonprofit employers that disagree with the Trump-Vance Administration’s policies from the PSLF program. This would give the Administration a tool to attack sanctuary jurisdictions, immigrant rights groups, healthcare providers that offer gender affirming care, schools, colleges, and universities, and employers committed to equal opportunity employment.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, alleges that the new PSLF rule is a blatant violation of the Higher Education Act (HEA) passed by Congress, which categorically provides that government and 501(c)(3) nonprofit employers are PSLF-eligible employers, and is an unconstitutional assault on the First Amendment rights of millions of public service workers. By denying debt relief to those employed at organizations the Administration dislikes—such as those providing legal services to immigrant or LGBTQIA+ communities—the rule will deprive government and nonprofit employers of highly-qualified individuals to do work benefitting those in need across the country.

The coalition is asking the courts to strike down the rule and safeguard the PSLF program as Congress intended: a bipartisan promise to those who choose to serve their communities, regardless of politics.

This legal action presents a comprehensive legal challenge to ED’s PSLF rule and would cover the waterfront of Americans whose livelihoods and rights are vulnerable under the new rule.

Further Reading

250+ organization letter to ED opposing ED’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to unlawfully change PSLF program: 250+ Organizations Representing Millions Demand That the Department of Education Halts Its Weaponization of PSLF

Statement on ED’s proposed language to implement Trump’s EO to exclude certain employers from the PSLF program: U.S. Department of Education’s Proposed PSLF Language Uplifts Thinly-Veiled Fascism

Blog on PSLF Neg Reg sessions: Sham PSLF Neg Reg: Harmful, Horrific, and Illegal

186 organization letter to ED in response to ED’s notice about Negotiated Rulemaking to implement a Trump Executive Order: Hundreds of Democracy, Labor, and Civil Rights Organizations Warn Trump Education Officials: Do Not “Weaponize PSLF”

Advisory that includes borrower quote on ED’s first Negotiated Rulemaking (Neg Reg) hearing on PSLF rewrite: Borrowers and Advocates to Demand Protections for Millions at Neg Reg as ED Moves to Gut Affordable Student Loan Payments

Collection of borrower stories: Voices Behind the Student Debt Crisis