Secretary of Education nominee Linda McMahon said during her confirmation hearing on Thursday that she would continue to operate the government’s popular Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, even if she comes under pressure from within the Trump administration to shutter it.
“Clearly there are programs that have already been passed by Congress that do, in fact, grant loan forgiveness for public service,” she said in response to a question from Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia. “We should honor those programs.”
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, which waives debt for government and nonprofit employees after they make 10 years of on-time payments, has been a frequent target of criticism from Republicans, who argue that it’s too costly and unfairly rewards workers in fields favored by Democrats over private-sector employees.
Read more: Do I qualify for student loan forgiveness?
During Trump’s first term, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos proposed eliminating the benefit entirely, and she was later accused of slow-walking its execution, as 99% of borrowers found their applications for forgiveness through the program rejected.
Under the Biden administration, the Department of Education made ramping up the program one of its top priorities. More than 1 million borrowers have seen their debts forgiven under it since 2021.
In a follow-up question, Kaine asked McMahon whether she would keep the program operating even if “the DOGE brothers or someone else” with the administration told her to stop implementing it.
“Yes, because that’s the law,” she said.
Under Biden, education officials made a number of changes meant to streamline the public service program and help former students qualify, even if they had failed to perfectly comply with all the program’s complicated rules. Using emergency powers, the Biden administration temporarily allowed students to count past payments toward forgiveness even if they hadn’t been enrolled in the correct repayment program. It also somewhat loosened the definition of an on-time payment, which had tripped up many borrowers in the past.
The Biden administration also worked on technical changes that made applying for public service forgiveness easier. For instance, it allowed borrowers to certify online that they worked in a job that qualifies for the program, instead of requiring an employer to fax or mail the paperwork.
Read more: How to file a complaint with the Department of Education
Undoing some of Biden’s changes now would be time-consuming and difficult, since it would require a formal rulemaking process. But some student advocates are still concerned that the Trump administration could once again slow down the program.
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