Trump's Executive Order Threatens Public Service Loan Forgiveness

Controversy Surrounds Planned Executive Order on Public Service Loan Forgiveness

Executive Order Sparks Backlash Over Potential Impact on Public Service Workers

WASHINGTON, DC – President Trump has indicated his plan to sign an executive order that would remove the eligibility for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) for individuals employed at certain non-profit organizations opposing the administration's policies. The announcement has prompted strong reactions from various stakeholders.

Mike Pierce, Executive Director of the Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC), commented:

“Don’t be fooled, today’s executive order is blatantly illegal and an all-out weaponization of debt intended to silence speech that does not align with President Trump’s MAGA agenda. It is an attack on working families everywhere and will have a chilling effect on our public service workforce doing the work everyday to support our local communities. Teachers, nurses, servicemembers and other public service workers deserve better than to be used as pawns in Donald Trump’s radical right-wing political project to destroy civil society. This will raise costs for working people while doing nothing to make America safer or healthier.”

Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), also issued a statement:

“The president claims to be committed to ‘free speech,’ but we’ve quickly discovered that pledge doesn’t apply to higher education and now, PSLF. He wants to impose an ideological litmus test antithetical to American values and contrary to the statute at hand. It’s an illegal attack on millions of dedicated public service workers who placed their faith in PSLF’s bipartisan promise, only to see it ripped away.

“PSLF is based on the idea that borrowers who make 10 years of repayments, and who often forgo higher wages in the private sector, can avoid a lifelong debt sentence. For years, the AFT has fought to ensure the promise of PSLF was a promise kept. We sued Betsy DeVos and rogue loan servicers for their failure to administer the program—and we won. This latest assault on borrowers’ livelihoods is a cruel attempt to finish the demolition job that DeVos started. The goal is to sow chaos and confusion—separately, the PSLF application form has already been taken offline, making it effectively inaccessible. The AFT won’t stop fighting, in court and in Congress, until every single public service worker gets the help the law affords them.”

Prior to the current administration, the PSLF program had only benefited 7,000 public service employees due to high rejection rates. Under Secretary Betsy DeVos, 99 percent of applicants were denied relief, a situation that prompted a joint investigation by the SBPC and AFT into program mismanagement. The findings led to significant reforms under the Biden-Harris Administration, which aimed to address these systemic issues and deliver promised debt relief to public service workers.

The AFT represents a diverse group of professionals, including teachers, healthcare workers, and government employees. The organization continues to advocate for the rights and benefits of its members.

About the Student Borrower Protection Center

The Student Borrower Protection Center focuses on reducing student debt through advocacy and policy initiatives. It seeks to protect borrower rights and promote economic justice.

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The AFT represents 1.8 million pre-K through 12th-grade teachers; paraprofessionals and other school-related personnel; higher education faculty and professional staff; federal, state and local government employees; nurses and healthcare workers; and early childhood educators.

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