If you weren’t already super psyched for the Big Beautiful Bill borrowing caps making law school unaffordable for many, get ready to learn that most lawyerly public service is no longer getting loan forgiveness. Because public service itself is going to “illegal.”
The Trump administration’s ongoing war on the legal profession continues with the Department of Education releasing its finalized Public Service Loan Forgiveness rule — a process kicked off in March when Trump issued his Restoring Public Service Loan Forgiveness Executive Order — and while its impact will be felt across education, the new rule is especially brutal for law school graduates, with the DOE cutting off forgiveness to those causes it deems to be supporting “illegal activity.” And, if you hadn’t already guessed what it means to support “illegal” activity in this regime, they mean jobs like “representing immigrants” and “advocating for transgender rights.”
“Taxpayer funds should never directly or indirectly subsidize illegal activity,” Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent said, a reasonable premise if directed at graduates aspiring to become a mob consigliere. As it happens, that’s not the sort of “illegal activity” Kent’s talking about. “The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program was meant to support Americans who dedicate their careers to public service – not to subsidize organizations that violate the law, whether by harboring illegal immigrants or performing prohibited medical procedures that attempt to transition children away from their biological sex.”
By this, he means representing people in immigration proceedings. His remark about transgender care is directed at medical school grads, but the language of the final rule would cover any organization that provides legal aid to trans folks. The final rule knocked down objections that giving the Education Secretary unilateral authority to decide if a public service is “illegal” would be unconstitutionally vague. By the DOE’s account, the definition is clear.
Behold… the definition:
(i) aiding or abetting violations of 8 U.S.C. 1325 or other Federal immigration laws;
(ii) Supporting terrorism, including by facilitating funding to, or the operations of, cartels designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations consistent with 8 U.S.C. 1189, or by engaging in violence for the purpose of obstructing or influencing Federal Government policy;
(iii) Engaging in the chemical and surgical castration or mutilation of children in violation of Federal or State law;
(iv) Engaging in the trafficking of children to another State for purposes of emancipation from their lawful parents in violation of Federal or State law;
(v) Engaging in a pattern of aiding and abetting illegal discrimination; or
(vi) Engaging in a pattern of violating State laws as defined in paragraph (b)(34) of this section.
There’s no such thing as a public service coyote operation, so that first prong is being read — fairly — as an exclusion aimed at organizations providing services to migrants — which would appear to include representing migrants. Advocating for asylum is certainly going to be tagged as “aiding and abetting.” Working for al Qaeda was never eligible public service work, but the new rule is designed to expand the exclusion to groups that the administration decides to call terrorists or cartel members. Since this administration plans to designate “Antifa” as a terror organization and can’t figure out who actually belongs to a cartel, this — along with section (vi), which lists charges often (fairly and unfairly) tacked onto protests — is primed as a catch-all to exclude any groups that represent people taking direct action. The “illegal discrimination” language, as we’ve seen with the administration’s assault on universities, is meant as a cudgel for any group with a diversity plan — that’s going to knock out pretty much any public service organization that isn’t already covered by the rest of the definition.
As one would expect, the Department responds with feigned shock and disbelief to the idea that this rule is a rubber band designed to entangle any group the administration considers woke.
Business Insider notes that no one’s buying that:
Advocates for student-loan borrowers criticized the final rule and plan to take legal action. In a joint statement, advocacy groups Democracy Forward and Protect Borrowers said the rule “is a direct and unlawful attack on nurses, teachers, first responders, and public service workers across the country.”
The worst part of this rotten rule is that it’s designed to punish those who are already underwater. Lawyers who already made choices, took jobs, or even moved cities, are now going to get their forgiveness cut off because representing the accused now counts as aiding and abetting illegal activity. Because kneecapping the institutions protecting the powerless is a key pillar of the administration’s philosophy. Undermining the rule of law is a lot easier when no one’s left to defend it.
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter or Bluesky if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.
The post New Trump Rule Declares Most Public Service Work ‘Illegal,’ Ineligible For Loan Forgiveness appeared first on Above the Law.
If you weren’t already super psyched for the Big Beautiful Bill borrowing caps making law school unaffordable for many, get ready to learn that most lawyerly public service is no longer getting loan forgiveness. Because public service itself is going to “illegal.”
The Trump administration’s ongoing war on the legal profession continues with the Department of Education releasing its finalized Public Service Loan Forgiveness rule — a process kicked off in March when Trump issued his Restoring Public Service Loan Forgiveness Executive Order — and while its impact will be felt across education, the new rule is especially brutal for law school graduates, with the DOE cutting off forgiveness to those causes it deems to be supporting “illegal activity.” And, if you hadn’t already guessed what it means to support “illegal” activity in this regime, they mean jobs like “representing immigrants” and “advocating for transgender rights.”
“Taxpayer funds should never directly or indirectly subsidize illegal activity,” Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent said, a reasonable premise if directed at graduates aspiring to become a mob consigliere. As it happens, that’s not the sort of “illegal activity” Kent’s talking about. “The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program was meant to support Americans who dedicate their careers to public service – not to subsidize organizations that violate the law, whether by harboring illegal immigrants or performing prohibited medical procedures that attempt to transition children away from their biological sex.”
By this, he means representing people in immigration proceedings. His remark about transgender care is directed at medical school grads, but the language of the final rule would cover any organization that provides legal aid to trans folks. The final rule knocked down objections that giving the Education Secretary unilateral authority to decide if a public service is “illegal” would be unconstitutionally vague. By the DOE’s account, the definition is clear.
Behold… the definition:
(i) aiding or abetting violations of 8 U.S.C. 1325 or other Federal immigration laws;
(ii) Supporting terrorism, including by facilitating funding to, or the operations of, cartels designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations consistent with 8 U.S.C. 1189, or by engaging in violence for the purpose of obstructing or influencing Federal Government policy;
(iii) Engaging in the chemical and surgical castration or mutilation of children in violation of Federal or State law;
(iv) Engaging in the trafficking of children to another State for purposes of emancipation from their lawful parents in violation of Federal or State law;
(v) Engaging in a pattern of aiding and abetting illegal discrimination; or
(vi) Engaging in a pattern of violating State laws as defined in paragraph (b)(34) of this section.
There’s no such thing as a public service coyote operation, so that first prong is being read — fairly — as an exclusion aimed at organizations providing services to migrants — which would appear to include representing migrants. Advocating for asylum is certainly going to be tagged as “aiding and abetting.” Working for al Qaeda was never eligible public service work, but the new rule is designed to expand the exclusion to groups that the administration decides to call terrorists or cartel members. Since this administration plans to designate “Antifa” as a terror organization and can’t figure out who actually belongs to a cartel, this — along with section (vi), which lists charges often (fairly and unfairly) tacked onto protests — is primed as a catch-all to exclude any groups that represent people taking direct action. The “illegal discrimination” language, as we’ve seen with the administration’s assault on universities, is meant as a cudgel for any group with a diversity plan — that’s going to knock out pretty much any public service organization that isn’t already covered by the rest of the definition.
As one would expect, the Department responds with feigned shock and disbelief to the idea that this rule is a rubber band designed to entangle any group the administration considers woke.
Business Insider notes that no one’s buying that:
Advocates for student-loan borrowers criticized the final rule and plan to take legal action. In a joint statement, advocacy groups Democracy Forward and Protect Borrowers said the rule “is a direct and unlawful attack on nurses, teachers, first responders, and public service workers across the country.”
The worst part of this rotten rule is that it’s designed to punish those who are already underwater. Lawyers who already made choices, took jobs, or even moved cities, are now going to get their forgiveness cut off because representing the accused now counts as aiding and abetting illegal activity. Because kneecapping the institutions protecting the powerless is a key pillar of the administration’s philosophy. Undermining the rule of law is a lot easier when no one’s left to defend it.
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter or Bluesky if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.
The post New Trump Rule Declares Most Public Service Work ‘Illegal,’ Ineligible For Loan Forgiveness appeared first on Above the Law.
