{"id":89128,"date":"2026-06-30T17:17:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T21:17:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/federal-judge-blocks-trump-rule-that-would-have-cut-student-loan-forgiveness-for-some-workers\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T17:17:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T21:17:11","slug":"federal-judge-blocks-trump-rule-that-would-have-cut-student-loan-forgiveness-for-some-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/federal-judge-blocks-trump-rule-that-would-have-cut-student-loan-forgiveness-for-some-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal Judge Blocks Trump Rule That Would Have Cut Student Loan Forgiveness for Some Workers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n

A federal judge in Boston has put a stop to a Trump administration rule that would have blocked some public service employees from qualifying for federal student loan forgiveness.<\/p>

U.S. District Judge Myong Joun sided with a coalition of Democratic-led states, cities, and nonprofit organizations that challenged the U.S. Department of Education’s new regulation. Those groups argued the rule was crafted to target organizations that advocate for immigration rights, transgender healthcare, and other causes the Trump administration opposes, effectively pushing them out of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.<\/p>

That program allows borrowers who work for government agencies or nonprofit employers to have their federal student loans wiped out after 10 years of qualifying employment. Since Congress created the program in 2007, more than one million borrowers have had their debt erased through it.<\/p>

In a March 2025 executive order, President Trump stated that the program had “misdirected tax dollars into activist organizations that not only fail to serve the public interest, but actually harm our national security and American values.” He directed the Education Department to rewrite the rules governing who qualifies, specifically to exclude employers with what he called a “substantial illegal purpose.”<\/p>

The Education Department followed through, publishing a final rule in October that defined “substantial illegal purpose” to include activities such as aiding illegal immigration, supporting terrorism, engaging in illegal discrimination, and participating in what it described as the “chemical and surgical castration or mutilation of children.”<\/p>

Plaintiffs filed their lawsuit in November, seeking to prevent the rule from taking effect on July 1. They argued the regulation was clearly designed to penalize organizations the administration disagrees with, including groups that work on behalf of immigrants, transgender individuals, diversity programs, and political protest movements.<\/p>

Their legal challenge also contended that the law establishing the forgiveness program never gave the Education Department the authority to carve out exceptions to eligibility, and that the agency had no reasonable justification for the policy.<\/p>

Monday’s court decision represents the second time in less than a week that a judge has blocked the Trump administration’s attempts to overhaul the federal student loan system. Earlier last week, a separate judge in Washington, D.C., prevented the Education Department from enforcing a different rule that would have lowered federal student loan limits for graduate students pursuing degrees in nursing and other healthcare fields.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A federal judge in Boston has halted a Trump administration rule that would have stripped certain public service workers of their eligibility for federal student loan forgiveness. The rule targeted employers deemed to have a ‘substantial illegal purpose,’ which opponents argued was aimed at groups supporting immigration rights and transgender healthcare. The ruling is the second legal setback for the administration’s efforts to reshape the federal student loan system within a single week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":89127,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[833],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/news-1782854231452.jpg?fit=450%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbtNqq-nby","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":52024,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/congressional-democrats-challenge-trump-student-loan-rule-changes\/","url_meta":{"origin":89128,"position":0},"title":"Congressional Democrats Challenge Trump Student Loan Rule Changes","author":"Admin","date":"April 14, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Democratic lawmakers are working to reverse new Trump administration regulations that could remove certain borrowers from a federal student loan forgiveness program. The controversial rule would allow the Education Secretary to exclude workers from organizations deemed to have \"substantial illegal purpose.\"","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/news-1776195515920.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/news-1776195515920.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/news-1776195515920.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/news-1776195515920.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9130,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/ftc-acts-to-stop-student-loan-debt-relief-scheme-that-took-millions-from-consumers-in-first-case-under-the-impersonation-rule\/","url_meta":{"origin":89128,"position":1},"title":"FTC Acts to Stop Student Loan Debt Relief Scheme that Took Millions from Consumers in First Case under the Impersonation Rule","author":"ndrayton","date":"June 28, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"In its first case under the Impersonation Rule, the Federal Trade Commission has stopped a student loan debt relief scheme that bilked more than $20.3 million from consumers seeking debt relief by pretending to be affiliated with\u00a0the Department of Education.A\u00a0federal court temporarily halted the scheme and froze its assets-\u00a0at the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11313,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/ftc-acts-to-stop-scheme-that-bilked-millions-out-of-student-loan-borrowers\/","url_meta":{"origin":89128,"position":2},"title":"FTC Acts to Stop Scheme that Bilked Millions out of Student Loan Borrowers","author":"ndrayton","date":"December 9, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The Federal Trade Commission has stopped a scheme that allegedly bilked millions of dollars out of consumers burdened with student loan debt by pretending to be affiliated with\u00a0the U.S. Department of Education in violation of the FTC\u2019s Impersonation Rule, collecting illegal advance fees, and making other deceptive claims.A\u00a0federal court temporarily\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Seal_of_the_United_States_Federal_Trade_Commission.svg_.png?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Seal_of_the_United_States_Federal_Trade_Commission.svg_.png?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Seal_of_the_United_States_Federal_Trade_Commission.svg_.png?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":88583,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/federal-judges-ruling-expands-student-loan-access-for-nursing-therapy-graduates\/","url_meta":{"origin":89128,"position":3},"title":"Federal Judge’s Ruling Expands Student Loan Access for Nursing, Therapy Graduates","author":"Admin","date":"June 29, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A federal judge's ruling has temporarily forced the U.S. Education Department to allow graduate students in nursing, physical therapy, and related fields to borrow higher federal loan amounts. The department issued a revised rule Monday that expands the list of so-called 'professional' degree programs eligible for up to $200,000 in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "U.S. News"","block_context":{"text":"U.S. News","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/us-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/news-1782776034931.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/news-1782776034931.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/news-1782776034931.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/news-1782776034931.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":87013,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/federal-judge-blocks-loan-caps-for-nursing-and-therapy-graduate-students\/","url_meta":{"origin":89128,"position":4},"title":"Federal Judge Blocks Loan Caps for Nursing and Therapy Graduate Students","author":"Admin","date":"June 25, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A federal judge has put the brakes on part of a Trump administration policy that would have restricted borrowing options for students in graduate nursing, physical therapy, and public health programs. The ruling pauses the Education Department's updated definition of what counts as a 'professional degree,' which had left many\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Health"","block_context":{"text":"Health","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/news-1782437475064.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/news-1782437475064.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/news-1782437475064.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/news-1782437475064.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7011,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/ftc-action-leads-to-permanent-ban-for-scammers-who-charged-students-seeking-debt-relief-with-junk-fees\/","url_meta":{"origin":89128,"position":5},"title":"FTC Action Leads to Permanent Ban for Scammers Who Charged Students Seeking Debt Relief with Junk Fees","author":"ndrayton","date":"February 6, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A group of student loan debt relief scammers will be permanently banned from the debt relief industry\u00a0and is required to turn over their assets as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. 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