Trump signed an executive order Friday night to restrict the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
LOOKING AHEAD AT ED: President Donald Trump directed the Education Department to restrict eligibility for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program via executive order.
But, but, but: The department needs to go through a negotiated rulemaking process before making any changes to the program, so the directive doesn’t have an immediate effect. During her confirmation hearing, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said at her Senate confirmation hearing she would keep the program intact.
Key context: The PSLF program was created through bipartisan-supported act of Congress and signed into law by then-President George W. Bush in 2007. The program forgives borrowers who make 10 years of payments while employed in specific public service jobs like teaching, nursing or working for a nonprofit.
— When the first group of borrowers became eligible in 2017, the program had a 99 percent denial rate, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The Biden administration canceled billions of dollars of debt under the PSLF program.
— Education advocates question whether the president can legally exclude people because they work in organizations opposed by the administration.
— “The president claims to be committed to ‘free speech,’ but we’ve quickly discovered that pledge doesn’t apply to higher education and now, PSLF,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, the second largest teachers union in the country. “He wants to impose an ideological litmus test antithetical to American values and contrary to the statute at hand.”
— Other organizations held a similar sentiment, adding that the administration should expect litigation.
— “Under federal law, any organization that is tax exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code is a qualifying employer for PSLF regardless of the specific services that are provided,” The National College Attainment Network wrote in a statement. “This move will no doubt be litigated, and we expect the clear language of the law to prevail.”
— The plan appears to be calling for $202,344,000 cuts for the Education Department, and the money appears to be generally directed at local programs.
— Speaker Mike Johnson aims to pass the bill as soon as Tuesday with Republican votes only, and then jam the Senate by adjourning the House and putting the pressure on Democrats across the Capitol to back the plan.
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FIRST AMENDMENT DEBATE: A top federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C., told Georgetown Law that his office won’t hire the law school’s students if it doesn’t eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
— “It has come to my attention reliably that Georgetown Law School continues to teach and promote D.E.I.,” Ed Martin, the interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, wrote in a letter in February. “This is unacceptable.”
— In response, Dean William Treanor told Martin on Thursday that such a threat would be a clear violation of the private institution’s First Amendment rights.
— “The First Amendment, however, guarantees that the government cannot direct what Georgetown and its faculty teach and how to teach it,” Treanor wrote. “The Supreme Court has continually affirmed that among the freedoms central to a university’s First Amendment rights are its abilities to determine on academic grounds, who may teach, what to teach and how to teach it.”
— Others have also accused Martin of infringing on free speech. Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee asked the Office of Disciplinary Counsel in D.C. on Thursday to investigate whether Martin may have engaged in professional misconduct since taking office.
— In a letter to the office, the senators accused Martin of abusing his position on several occasions, including by “using the threat of prosecution to intimidate government employees and chill the speech of private citizens.”
— “Mr. Martin’s conduct not only speaks to his fitness as a lawyer; his activities are part of a broader course of conduct by President Trump and his allies to undermine the traditional independence of Department of Justice investigations and prosecutions and the rule of law,” the senators wrote.
GRANT MONEY: Columbia University faces the immediate loss of grants and contracts totaling about $400 million for failing to address antisemitism, a Trump administration task force said Friday.
— The Justice Department task force to combat antisemitism, led by Leo Terrell, has been probing 10 institutions because of their responses to antisemitic incidents on campuses since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel. But Columbia, which faced intense scrutiny for its students’ high-profile antiwar encampment and building occupations last spring, is the first institution to have its grants and contracts frozen.
— Katrina Armstrong, the interim president of Columbia University, said in a statement that there is “no question” that the cancellation of these funds will immediately impact research and other critical functions of the university.
— “I want to assure the entire Columbia community that we are committed to working with the federal government to address their legitimate concerns,” Armstrong said in the statement. “To that end, Columbia can, and will, continue to take serious action toward combatting antisemitism on our campus.”
STARTING TODAY:Civic Learning Week, an event hosted by nonprofit iCivics featuring webinars featuring Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Ken Burns and others, kicks off today.
— Since 2021, there’s been increasing bipartisan support for students to learn about how the government works, and the increases, while small, are being driven by Republicans.
— For example, 64 percent of Republicans in 2024 supported students learning about political issues like immigration or gun control compared with 57 percent in 2021. Support among Democrats was 80 percent in 2024, a marginal drop in 2 percentage points from 2021.
A message from Sallie Mae®:
The federal student loan system is overdue for reform. Every year, the federal government lends nearly $100 billion to students and families, and some programs allow virtually unlimited borrowing — without considering their ability to repay. Sallie Mae supports common sense reforms that protect against overborrowing. Students and families deserve a more transparent, responsible federal higher education financing system.
Syllabus
— Opinion: The urgent Supreme Court case that isn’t getting enough attention. The New York Times.
— Michigan LGBTQ+ students fear ripple effects of Trump’s political rhetoric. Chalkbeat Detroit.
— ‘Whiplash’ and dread inside the Education Department. Inside Higher Ed.
