Two federal judges have struck down an order that would have changed the U.S. Department of Education’s public service student loan forgiveness program.
U.S. District Judge Myong Joun said the changes overstepped the DOE’s power and threatened to go against the First Amendment. The ruling was in response to two lawsuits by more than 20 states, several cities, and nonprofits, The Associated Press reported.
U.S. District Judge Amir Ali also had a similar ruling in a case filed by a nonprofit.
Congress created the Public Loan Forgiveness program in 2007 in a way to encourage graduates to work in government and nonprofit jobs. If they worked in public service jobs for 10 years, their federal student loans were forgiven.
The 2007 law specified what types of workers qualified, according to The New York Times.
The DOE added new rules that would not forgive loans for workers whose employers have a “substantial illegal purpose” and would have hit nonprofits and government organizations that support initiatives that run counter to the priorities of the President Donald Trump administration. The rule came from an executive order signed by Trump last year that targeted groups that supported undocumented immigrants, diversity initiatives, or gender-affirming care, The New York Times reported.
Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent released a statement that, in part, said the department stood “behind this common-sense policy to ensure that taxpayer dollars are never used to subsidize illegal activities” and was considering next steps, the Times reported.
In ruling, Joun said the rules could have imposed the administration’s policy views on employers and that the DOE did not connect its definitions of illegal activity to criminal statutes, the AP reported.
“The Department cannot create new criminal prohibitions through rulemaking,” the judge wrote.
Joun said that all of the supporting briefs came on behalf of the groups challenging the rules, and none came from supporting the rule change, the AP reported.
More than 1 million Americans had their loans forgiven before the now-canceled change.
The new rule was to take effect on July 1, the Times reported.