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The Trump administration moved Wednesday to end its legal fight to overhaul a popular student loan forgiveness program. <\/p>\n
The Department of Justice appealed after federal judges ruled in June<\/a> in favor of advocates who said the Public Service Loan Forgiveness<\/a> program risked becoming a tool for political retribution. But it dropped two appeals Wednesday in single-sentence joint agreements, which stipulated that each side would pay its own fees. <\/p>\n Federal officials provided no explanation, but advocates praised the ruling. <\/p>\n \u201cThe Trump administration\u2019s attempt to weaponize public service loan forgiveness against organizations it disagrees with was anti-democratic and unlawful from the start,” Dan Zibel, an attorney for the group Student Defense, said in a written statement. “This is a significant victory for millions of Americans who have dedicated their careers to public service.\u201d<\/p>\n The PSLF program was designed to make jobs in government, public schools, fire and police departments, public hospitals and nonprofits more attractive by forgiving loans for qualified employees after a decade\u2019s worth of payments. <\/p>\n But last fall, President Donald Trump\u2019s administration wrote a new rule to empower Education Secretary Linda McMahon to kick employers out of the program if she decides their work has a \u201csubstantial illegal purpose.\u201d <\/p>\n The vaguely phrased rule was targeted at employers who support undocumented immigrants or transgender youth, potentially affecting borrowers who worked at schools, public hospitals and legal aid groups. <\/p>\n The overhaul amounted to a major reworking of a program that has canceled loans for more than 1 million Americans. <\/p>\n But just before it was set to take effect in July, U.S. District Judge Myong Joun in Massachusetts vacated the U.S. Education Department\u2019s changes, saying they overstepped the agency\u2019s power and threatened to violate First Amendment protections for free speech. The ruling came in response to a pair of lawsuits filed by more than 20 states along with a coalition of nonprofit groups and cities. <\/p>\n On the same day, District Judge Amir Ali in Washington issued a similar ruling in a case brought by nonprofit organizations. <\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n The Associated Press\u2019 education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP\u2019s standards<\/a> for working with philanthropies, a list<\/a> of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n