Court sides with broad coalition, blocking unlawful effort to punish perceived political opponents.

Washington, D.C. – A federal court has ordered the Trump-Vance administration to stop its unlawful rewriting of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program as a way of silencing local governments and nonprofit organizations that do work that goes against the administration’s political agenda. The ruling comes in National Council of Nonprofits et al. v. McMahon, a case brought by a broad coalition of more than a dozen cities, labor unions, and nonprofit organizations against the U.S. Department of Education. The case sought to stop a new rule that would allow the Secretary of Education to disqualify government and nonprofit employers that disagree with the administration’s policies from a program intended to support borrowers working in public service jobs.

Plaintiffs in the case include City of Albuquerque, City of Boston, City of Chicago, City and County of San Francisco, County of Santa Clara, Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, Legal Aid DC, National Association of Social Workers, National Council of Nonprofits, Oasis Legal Services, American Federation of Teachers, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and National Education Association. The coalition is represented by Democracy Forward and Protect Borrowers in this matter; the County of Santa Clara and City and County of San Francisco represent themselves.

“This decision is about more than student loans—it is about protecting those who stand up for people whose rights are under threat, now more than ever,” said Erin Barnaby, Deputy Director of Communications at the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights. “This ruling protects immigration advocates and other nonprofit workers from political retaliation and preserves Congress’ promise to those who dedicate their careers to serving their communities.”

The legal team on this case includes Sarah Goetz, Victoria Nugent, Simon Brewer, Jennifer Fountain Connolly, and Robin Thurston from Democracy Forward and Persis Yu and Winston Berkman-Breen from Protect Borrowers.

Read today’s opinion here and learn more about the case here.