California Attorney General Rob Bonta today co-led a coalition of 22 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit challenging new U.S. Department of Education regulations that could exclude people with federal student loans from Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) eligibility based on whether their employers engage in actions that the Trump Administration deems to have a “substantial illegal purpose.” The rule threatens PSLF eligibility for organizations that are engaged in important and legal activities, such as providing legal services to immigrants, providing gender-affirming care to minors, participating in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, or engaging in civil protest and the right to assembly. As of 2024, more than 81,000 Californians have received over $6 billion in PSLF forgiveness. Last month, Attorney General Bonta led a multistate coalition in sending a letter to the Department opposing a proposed version of the rule. In the lawsuit filed today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the attorneys general ask the court to declare the now final rule unlawful, vacate it, and bar the Department from enforcing or implementing it.
“Millions of Americans shaped their lives, made long-term career decisions, and took on deep financial burdens based on the promise that, if they dedicated their lives to public service and made student loan payments for 10 years, their government would support them. Now, the Trump Administration is pulling the rug from under hardworking Americans who absolutely deserve what they were promised,” said Attorney General Bonta. “The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program is a Bush-era, bipartisan-backed effort that encourages generations of young people to build careers in public service. Make no mistake: This is the latest example of the Trump Administration’s weaponization of the federal government to go after people it does not agree with, all the while betraying and eroding the very institutions that uphold our democracy. We’ll see the President in court.”