Kaine & Courtney Lead Bicameral Resolution to Repeal Trump Administration Rule to Politicize Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program

WASHINGTON, D.C. - This week, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Cory Booker (D-NJ), introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to overturn a final rule by the Trump Administration to politicize and destabilize the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program by allowing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to limit eligibility and disqualify certain public service employers-a clear attempt to intimidate and punish certain organizations. A companion resolution has been introduced in the U.S. House by Representatives Joe Courtney (D-CT-02), Alma Adams (D-NC-12), and Scott Peters (D-CA-50).

Once the senators collect 30 signatures from their colleagues in support of their resolution, it can be called up for a vote on the Senate floor. It needs a simple majority to pass.

"Americans benefit from highly qualified teachers, firefighters, nonprofit hospital staff, social workers, and other critical public servants," said Kaine. "But now the Department of Education wants to turn those incredible people into pawns in the Trump Administration's ridiculous, politically motivated crusades. That's unfair to the millions of Americans who have dedicated their careers to serving their fellow citizens and is a direct threat to the quality of the services our communities rely on. I'm proud to join my colleagues in leading an effort to protect the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program from needless and dangerous politicization."

"The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program was created in 2007 as a nonpolitical program to lower the cost of college, reward careers in public service ranging from military service, nursing, teaching, and public safety, and help fill critical positions that our communities need. This new rule by President Trump and Secretary of Education McMahon would pick and choose which public servants are eligible for forgiveness based on the Trump Administration's ideological agenda, which clearly goes against Congressional intent," said Courtney. "I will continue to fight against the Trump Department of Education's unlawful degradation of PSLF, and I will continue working to improve this patriotic program so that it lives up to the promise it makes to America's hardworking public servants."

"Student loan forgiveness should not be ripped away from public servants based on the president's political agenda," said Gillibrand. "Student borrowers who have chosen to serve their communities in the nonprofit or public sector, often for less pay than they could have otherwise earned, are counting on a promise from their government that their loans will ultimately be forgiven. The Trump administration's move to retroactively deny student borrowers this benefit is disgraceful. I urge the Department of Education to focus on lowering costs for the constituents we all serve, not furthering Donald Trump's partisan games."

"Public Service Loan Forgiveness represents a promise we made to Americans who dedicate their careers to serving others," said Booker. "Efforts to weaponize that promise for political purposes or to exclude eligible public servants undermines both the integrity of the program and our commitment to public service."

"The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program is a lifeline for countless Americans who have chosen careers in teaching, nursing, social work, and other vital roles in public service," said Adams. "In North Carolina, 1 in every 14 classrooms lacks a teacher with proper licensure and 13 percent of nursing positions sit unfilled. Easing the financial burden of education for these careers is vital. Allowing the Trump Administration to weaponize this program for political purposes is a betrayal of the promise we made to these dedicated workers. I am proud to stand with my colleagues in defending PSLF and ensuring that our public servants receive the loan forgiveness they have earned."

"San Diego's public servants, teachers, nurses, and doctors tirelessly serve our community and rely on the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program's promise that their student loans will eventually be forgiven. The PSLF program was created to reward those who choose to pursue careers in public service, yet the recent changes by the Trump Administration threaten to drive essential public servants out of these lines of work. We should strengthen this program, not undermine it. I am proud to co-lead this effort to protect the PSLF program for current and future public servants," said Peters.

Congress enacted the PSLF program with strong bipartisan support through legislation that was signed into law by President George W. Bush. The Trump Administration's new rule would undermine the intent of the program. Specifically, the Trump Administration's changes would:

• Politicize and destabilize the PSLF program, by allowing Secretary McMahon to limit eligibility based on a nonprofit's mission or perceived ideological alignment, making the program vulnerable to shifting political priorities under any future administration.
• Grant overly broad and subjective discretion to the Department of Education, by permitting disqualification of employers deemed to have a "substantial illegal purpose"-an undefined and subjective standard that invites arbitrary and inconsistent enforcement.
• Target marginalized communities and the nonprofits that serve them.
• Discourage public service careers and weaken the nonprofit workforce.
  
  

The Senate resolution is cosponsored by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and U.S. Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Chris Coons (D-DE), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Edward J. Markey (D-MD), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).

The legislation is supported by AccessLex Institute, AFL-CIO, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), American Association of University Women (AAUW), American Bar Association (ABA), American Federation of Teachers: Education, Healthcare, Public Services, Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), Debt Collective, EdTrust, Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG), Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Legal Defense Fund, National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), National Association of Social Workers (NASW), National Education Association (NEA), National Immigration Law Center (NILC), National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA), NextGen California, Protect Borrowers, PSLF Coalition, SEIU, Student Debt Crisis Center, Student Veterans of America (SVA), The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS), The National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients), UnidosUS, and Young Invincibles.

Full text of the legislation is available here.

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