President Donald Trump’s administration is revising and restoring a loan forgiveness program that previously helped leftist activists avoid paying their student loans.
The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) said Thursday the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program was meant to be for Americans working in public service, but the department’s final rule is making big changes to protect American taxpayers from footing the bill for illegal activities.
The department’s announcement continued:
In 2007, Congress established the PSLF program to encourage Americans to pursue public service by promising to forgive their remaining federal student loans after 10 years of both qualifying employment and monthly payments. However, the eligibility standards for what constitutes a qualifying public service employer have not been adequately monitored, allowing certain organizations to qualify despite engaging in illegal activities that harm their communities and the public good. The Trump Administration is rightsizing the program to ensure that PSLF benefits go only to borrowers employed by organizations that genuinely serve the public.
Taxpayer money apparently went to organizations that harbored illegal immigrants and performed prohibited transgender procedures on children, Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent said:
Taxpayer funds should never directly or indirectly subsidize illegal activity. The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program was meant to support Americans who dedicate their careers to public service – not to subsidize organizations that violate the law, whether by harboring illegal immigrants or performing prohibited medical procedures that attempt to transition children away from their biological sex. With this new rule, the Trump Administration is refocusing the PSLF program to ensure federal benefits go to our Nation’s teachers, first responders, and civil servants who tirelessly serve their communities.
A few months into his second presidency, Trump ordered the Secretary of Education to revise the PSLF.
“As President of the United States, I have a duty to protect, preserve, and defend the Constitution and our national security, which includes ending the subsidization of illegal activities, including illegal immigration, human smuggling, child trafficking, pervasive damage to public property, and disruption of the public order, which threaten the security and stability of the United States,” he said in March.
“Accordingly, it is the policy of my Administration that individuals employed by organizations whose activities have a substantial illegal purpose shall not be eligible for public service loan forgiveness,” Trump added.
On his way out, former President Joe Biden (D) announced federal student loans for 55,000 workers would be canceled through the PSLF program, Breitbart News reported in December. A few months prior, he canceled student loans for 60,000 public service workers.
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