Published on March 7, 2025
This executive order aims to restrict Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) eligibility by excluding organizations deemed to engage in "substantial illegal purposes." The order specifically targets organizations involved in immigration assistance, certain forms of protest, gender-affirming care for minors, and various forms of civil disobedience, framing these activities as threats to national security and American values. The action directs the Secretary of Education to revise PSLF regulations to implement these restrictions.
The order's broad and ambiguous language around "illegal purposes" could be weaponized to target legitimate civil rights organizations, protest movements, and healthcare providers. By conflating civil disobedience with terrorism and using loaded terms like "chemical castration," the order appears designed to create a chilling effect on progressive activism while masquerading as a fiscal responsibility measure. The vague definitions of terms like "pattern of aiding and abetting illegal discrimination" could be selectively interpreted to defund organizations that challenge existing power structures.
While presented as a measure to protect taxpayer funds and national security, this executive order appears designed to restrict political activism and civil rights work by threatening the financial stability of workers in these sectors. The broad discretionary power granted in interpreting what constitutes "illegal purposes" could effectively create a political litmus test for loan forgiveness, potentially violating First Amendment protections and deterring participation in legitimate advocacy work.
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:Section 1. Purpose. In 2007, the Congress established the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program to encourage Americans to enter the public service sector by promising to forgive their remaining student loans after they completed 10 years of service in those jobs while making 10 years of minimum payments. The prior administration abused the PSLF Program through a waiver process, using taxpayer funds to pay off loans for employees still years away from the statutorily required number of payments. Moreover, instead of alleviating worker shortages in necessary occupations, the PSLF Program has misdirected tax dollars into activist organizations that not only fail to serve the public interest, but actually harm our national security and American values, sometimes through criminal means. The PSLF Program also creates perverse incentives that can increase the cost of tuition, can load students in low-need majors with unsustainable debt, and may push students into organizations that hide under the umbrella of a non-profit designation and degrade our national interest, thus requiring additional Federal funding to correct the negative societal effects caused by these organizations’ federally subsidized wrongdoing. 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. 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. Sec. 2. Restoring Public Service Loan Forgiveness. The Secretary of Education shall propose revisions to 34 C.F.R. 685.219, Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, in coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury as appropriate, that ensure the definition of “public service” excludes organizations that engage in activities that have a substantial illegal purpose, including: (a) aiding or abetting violations of 8 U.S.C. 1325 or other Federal immigration laws; (b) supporting terrorism, including by facilitating funding to, or the operations of, cartels designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations consistent with 8 U.S.C. 1189, or by engaging in violence for the purpose of obstructing or influencing Federal Government policy; (c) child abuse, including the chemical and surgical castration or mutilation of children or the trafficking of children to so-called transgender sanctuary States for purposes of emancipation from their lawful parents, in violation of applicable law; (d) engaging in a pattern of aiding and abetting illegal discrimination; or (e) engaging in a pattern of violating State tort laws, including laws against trespassing, disorderly conduct, public nuisance, vandalism, and obstruction of highways.Sec. 3. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations. (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.