Lawmakers push to remove Trump’s student loan forgiveness rule

Lawmakers are looking to overturn one of the Trump administration’s changes to a student loan forgiveness program. 

Congressional Democrats argue that the Public Service Loan forgiveness program had some changes that were done for political reasons and could leave some borrowers without relief owed to them. 

The backstory:

Qualified people who work in public service can apply for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which cancels loans for them after they’ve made a decade’s worth of payments. Last fall, President Trump added a new rule that allowed employers to be removed if it was deemed that they have a “substantial illegal purpose” as determined by Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon. 

The other side:

Democrats say the new rule targets employers who support undocumented immigrants or transgender youth. 

Sen. Tim Kaine, Sen. Kirsten Gilibrand and Sen. Cory Booker introduced a resolution on Tuesday to overturn the rule. House Democrats also put forth a similar resolution to remove it as well, calling it “a clear attempt to intimidate and punish certain organizations.”

What they’re saying:

Department of Education’s higher education chief Nicholas Kent said the Democrats were  “standing up for criminal activity.”

“This is a commonsense reform that will stop taxpayer dollars from subsidizing organizations involved in terrorism, child trafficking and child mutilation procedures that are doing irreversible harm to children,” Kent said in a statement. The rule, he said, will be enforced neutrally, “without consideration of the employer’s mission, ideology or the population they serve.”