Several cities have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, alleging that a rule change made to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program (PSLF) could potentially punish workers for defying Trump.
According to NPR, the Education Department published the rule change less than a week ago. Set to go into effect on July 1, 2026, the change will allow the Education Department to deny loan forgiveness to public service workers if it believes their government or nonprofit employers engage in “substantial illegal purpose.” What makes the rule unusual is that a court won’t decide what “substantial illegal purpose” is, but the Education Department will.
The cities of Albuquerque, N.M., Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco filed the lawsuit along with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and two of the nation’s largest teachers unions. The complaint argues that the PSLF rule change is “an attempt to target organizations and jurisdictions whose missions and policies do not align with [the Trump administration’s] political positions on immigration, race, gender, free speech, and public protest.”
The plaintiffs expressed concern that a first responder or teacher could be denied PSLF benefits simply because the leaders in the county or city they work for pushed back against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown or implemented diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. “Politically motivated retaliation, like what the administration has done here, should have no place in America,” Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, one of the organizations representing the plaintiffs, told NPR.
“Nonprofits operate food banks, serve veterans, assist domestic violence survivors, deliver meals to seniors, respond to disasters, and much more. Nonprofits must be able to identify and meet those needs without political interference, fear of retribution, or exclusion from a program designed to support their employees,” the National Council of Nonprofits said in a statement regarding the lawsuit.
Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent denounced the lawsuit. “It is unconscionable that the plaintiffs are standing up for criminal activity,” Kent said in a statement to NPR. “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.”
Bro, what public agency is trafficking children or engaging in domestic terrorism? I’m perpetually baffled at the fact that there is a concerning large number of people who can read a statement like that from a government official and be like, “yeah, that makes sense.”
The rule defines “substantial illegal activity” as “aiding and abetting violations of Federal immigration laws, supporting terrorism or engaging in violence for the purpose of obstructing or influencing Federal Government policy, engaging in the chemical and surgical castration or mutilation of children in violation of Federal or state law, engaging in the trafficking of children to another State for purposes of emancipation from their lawful parents in violation of Federal or State law, engaging in a pattern of aiding and abetting illegal discrimination, and engaging in a pattern of violating State laws.”
While most of the things listed are flat out absurd, it’s the “engaging in a pattern of aiding and abetting illegal discrimination” that gives the whole game away. Under the Trump administration, the Education Department has made cracking down on DEI initiatives one of its primary focuses. The department has launched investigations into schools with DEI initiatives, withheld federal funding, and is now trying to deny student loan forgiveness to public workers over the issue.
Kent has said that “the Department will enforce [the rule] neutrally, without consideration of the employer’s mission, ideology, or the population they serve,” but let’s be so for real right now, y’all. This is the same administration that’s exploiting the ongoing government shutdown to cut anything it perceives as a Democrat program. The PSLF rule change is yet another attempt by the Trump administration to punish public servants for even attempting to help marginalized communities.
SEE ALSO:
DOE Publishes New Rules Restricting Student Loan Forgiveness
Biden Admin Announces New Student Debt Forgiveness Plan
