Kaine, Gillibrand & Booker: Senate to Vote Today on Public Service Loan Forgiveness Resolution

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, 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) announced that the Senate will vote today on their Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to overturn a final rule from the Trump-Vance Administration to politicize and destabilize the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. The final Department of Education rule that this resolution would nullify allows Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to limit eligibility and disqualify certain public service employers—a clear attempt by the Administration to intimidate and punish certain organizations. “All Americans benefit when passionate aspiring public servants can afford the education they need to become firefighters, teachers, nonprofit hospital staff, social workers, and fill other crucial public interest jobs,” said Kaine. “The Trump-Vance Administration’s attempt to politicize the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and turn these dedicated public servants into pawns for political games hurts all of us—and that’s why my colleagues and I are forcing the Senate to vote on overturning this overtly political rule by the Department of Education.” “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.” “The Trump Administration’s move to dismantle Public Service Loan Forgiveness on July 1 will strip away essential protections from millions of borrowers at the very moment families are already being squeezed by rising costs, pushing public servants who followed every rule into years of additional debt,” said Booker. “That’s why my colleagues and I are forcing a vote to overturn this political attack and restore the promise we made to the people who serve our communities.” Congress enacted the PSLF program with strong bipartisan support through legislation that was signed into law by President George W. Bush. The Trump-Vance Administration’s new rule would undermine the intent of the program. Specifically, the Trump-Vance 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 senators introduced the resolution last month alongside companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives led by Representatives Joe Courtney (D-CT-02), Alma Adams (D-NC-12), and Scott Peters (D-CA-50). The Senate resolution is cosponsored by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and U.S. Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Chris Coons (D-DE), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Edward J. Markey (D-MD), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Patty Murray (D-WA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR). The legislation is supported by AccessLex Institute, Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE), 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 College of Physicians (ACP), American Federation of Teachers: Education, Healthcare, Public Services, Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), Debt Collective, EdTrust, Equity Research Cooperative, Glisten, Independent Sector, 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 Council of Nonprofits (NCN), National Education Association (NEA), National Immigration Law Center (NILC), National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA), National Nurses United (NNU), National Women’s Law Center Action Fund, 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 Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, The National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients), UnidosUS, United Auto Workers (UAW), United States Student Association, and Young Invincibles. Full text of the legislation is available here . ###