Overview
- The Department of Justice moved to dismiss two appeals Wednesday, leaving June district-court injunctions in place and preventing the Education Department’s October 2025 rule from taking effect for now.
- The 2025 rule would have let Education Secretary Linda McMahon disqualify employers and their employees from PSLF for conduct the government deemed “illegal,” including aiding undocumented immigrants or providing gender-affirming care.
- Two federal judges ruled in June that the rule exceeded the agency’s statutory authority and risked First Amendment violations, and those rulings produced nationwide blocks on the policy.
- The dismissals were filed as single-sentence joint agreements that give no public explanation and say each side will pay its own fees, while a separate appeal in the First Circuit remains pending.
- PSLF has already canceled loans for more than one million people and the DOJ’s move protects borrowers now, though legal observers warn the administration could try other regulatory paths that would again threaten program access.