Democrats seek to overturn Trump’s new rules for student loan forgiveness
WASHINGTON — Democrats in Congress are trying to reverse the Trump administration’s changes to a popular student loan forgiveness program, with lawmakers saying the changes are political and could leave some borrowers without promised relief.
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program forgives loans to qualified public service workers after they make a decade’s worth of payments. It has long been open to those who work for government, public schools, firefighters and police, public hospitals and nonprofit organizations. But last fall, President Donald Trump’s administration drafted a new rule that will allow Education Secretary Linda McMahon to kick employers out of the program if she decides their work has a “substantially unlawful purpose.”
Scheduled to take effect in July, the vaguely worded rule is aimed at employers who support undocumented immigrants or transgender youth, potentially affecting borrowers who work in schools, public hospitals and legal aid groups.
On Tuesday, Democratic Senators Tim Kaine of Virginia, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Cory Booker of New Jersey introduced a resolution to overturn the rule. A similar measure was introduced in the House by another trio of Democrats: Joe Courtney of Connecticut, Alma Adams of North Carolina and Scott Peters of California. Lawmakers called the rule “a clear attempt to intimidate and punish certain organizations.”
Nicholas Kent, director of higher education at the Department of Education, likened Democrats’ efforts to “defending criminal activity.”
“This is a common-sense reform that will prevent taxpayer dollars from subsidizing organizations involved in terrorism, child trafficking and child mutilation that cause irreversible harm to children,” Kent said in a statement. The rule, he said, will be applied neutrally, “without regard to mission, ideology or the population they serve.”
Although the Democrats’ measure could get a vote, it is unlikely to pass.
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