The lawsuit, Weingarten v. McMahon, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging that U.S. Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon mismanaged the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. This program, established in 2007, allows certain public service employees to have their federal student loans canceled after making 120 qualifying payments.
The Biden administration had previously made adjustments to the program, enabling over 1 million borrowers to receive forgiveness. AFT President Randi Weingarten criticized McMahon for neglecting her duties to assist public service workers, stating that the lawsuit demands immediate action.
The plaintiffs argue that the Trump administration denied relief under the Biden-era PSLF Buyback program, which allows borrowers to retroactively pay for missed qualifying months. As of spring, 88,000 applications were still pending.
Co-plaintiff Elizabeth Schoepflin expressed frustration over the Department of Education's sudden reduction in her qualifying payment count, which extends her loan forgiveness timeline. An Education Department spokesperson defended the changes, attributing them to correcting coding errors from the Biden administration that led to inaccurate payment counts