A federal judge blocked the Trump administration's plan to narrow eligibility for a major student-loan forgiveness program, ruling that the Education Department could not use the program to impose political preferences that Congress never wrote into law.
On Tuesday, US District Judge Myong Joun blocked the Education Department's final rule limiting eligibility for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which forgives student debt for government and nonprofit workers after 10 years of qualifying payments.
The rule had been set to take effect on July 1. It followed an executive order Trump signed last year directing the education secretary to "redefine" what counts as public service and exclude employers from PSLF if their work did not align with the administration's view of public service work, such as providing gender-affirming care.
Joun wrote in the ruling that the department's rule was "unlawful" and that the administration could not use PSLF to pressure borrowers or employers to conform to policy goals that had not been enacted by Congress.
"It may not leverage the PSLF program to compel Plaintiffs to conform their conduct to policy preferences that have not been enacted into law," Joun wrote. "Administrations change with elections; criminal laws do not."
The Education Department did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment on the ruling.
Winston Berkman-Breen, legal director at advocacy group Protect Borrowers — which filed the lawsuit alongside Democracy Forward — said in a statement that "this was a simple but powerful case with serious implications for working people across the country."
"With today's decision, teachers, social workers, immigration attorneys, and government employees can continue their important work without fear that the federal government will punish them for their service," Berkman-Breen said.
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