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Trump renegs on student loans [1]

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Date: 2025-03-08

Trump just loves irony so he did an executive order titled: Restoring Public Service Loan Forgiveness, when it does everything but.

There is this Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF), where if you complete 10 years in the public service sector, and made minimum payments for 10 years, the loan was forgiven and you walked away with a clean credit record.

The deal is still on unless you help an undocumented immigrant, and another number of other activities.

Trump complains about how Biden forgave loans that hadn't made the minimum requirements. Then he gets nasty.

"PLSF 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."

He hasn't said it yet, but he'll get to his real goal of the executive order shortly.

"... may push students into organizations that hide under the umbrella of nonprofit designation and degrade our national interest, thus requiring additional Federal funding to correct the negative societal effects caused by these organizations' federal subsidized wrongdoing."

National security and national interest are catch-all phrases for anything Trump wants to do. It seems so innocuous, but it gives him his imagined basis for taking action.

Defending the Constitution, "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."

Right there in front is "illegal immigration." "Pervasive damage to public property," is code for if you participated in a pro-Palestinian demonstration and something got spray painted, you're out, buddy. "Disruption of the public order." No demonstrations of any kind allowed. Except, of course, if it's pro-Israeli. Also would apply to protest marches.

"...individuals employed by organizations whose activities have a substantial illegal purpose shall not be eligible for public service loan forgiveness."

"Substantial" and "illegal purpose." If you're a member of a college group that organizes protests for just causes, you're a target. If you work for a non-profit after college that has anything to do with what Republicans deam to be illegal, such as diversity, equity, and inclusion, that does not qualify for the service part of the loan agreement. "Substantial" is so vague, it means whatever they want it to mean.

Excluded organizations from qualifying for service are those that:

"a) aiding or abetting violations of immigration laws."

Sanctuary cities and charities that help are out. Even if you've got Christian in your name.

"b) supporting terrorism... or by engaging in violence for the purpose of obstructing or influencing Federal Government policy."

If you're in a protest, and MAGA protests against you and it goes violent, guess who loses?

"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 the purpose of emancipation from their lawful parents, in violation of applicable law."

Once again anything trans is against the law. The terminology is horrible. Chemical and surgical castration, which doesn't happen. They had to add in mutilation of children at the same time. Trafficking of children sounds awful, but it means whoever provides support to those who want to transition. A child who believes they should transition and is psychologically and physically attacked by parents is no different than a child being forced into incest by a parent, or physically abused, and any child that runs away from home and gets help from a charity. Working at any of these organizations disqualifies you from the loan forgiveness.

"d) engaging in a pattern of aiding and abetting illegal discrimination."

That's just code for DEI again because they've taken over that term for meaning illegal discrimination when it is anything but.

"e) engaging in a pattern of violating State tort laws including laws against trespassing, disorderly conduct, public nuisance, vandalism, and obstruction of highways."

Every single one of those is about protesting, and if you've got a connection with any organization that does protesting, there goes your loan forgiveness. Every protest is against the law, unless of course you're with the Ku Klux Klan, Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, or any MAGA influenced organization.

Trump just really doesn't like anybody protesting against him. He has a history of that. He had protesters taken away just so he could do a photo op in front of a church holding up a Bible. It was a really good excuse to get rid of the protesters.

So, now you've found out that it's illegal to be a conscientious human being in the world of Trump. What else could he do to reverse the course of Biden's loan forgiveness programs?

If you go to StudentAid.gov, you're now presented with:

Great. Online is off, but you can still do it on paper. Why is online off, but you can still do it on paper? Guess what that means? It means it probably won't go through at all because they can always say they never got it in the mail. Whereas when you're doing it online, you usually have a receipt email or something of that sort to prove you did it. You could, of course, send the application by registered or certified mail.

Just Security's Litigation Tracker doesn't have a listing for the SAVE program suit. Up to 109 cases today. 3 more than the end of Friday.

This case has been going on a long time, but it looks like the Trump administration has put its thumb on the scales. The National Association for Student Financial Aid Administrations has an explanation of the case. Republican states caused the ruling.

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program is authorized by a separate statute, so now Trump has cut that off as much as he can, legally, but maybe not. I see a lot that can be challenged in the executive order.

Students looking to get loans for the first time are met with hostility. Students with loans already are also stymied. The only thing on studentaid.gov is loan consolidation. Then you're turned over to a loan servicer, who have very bad reputations due to the way loan payments are done and recorded.

I was able to navigate through loan qualification information and actually get to a spot where a loan can be applied online. So that is at least still working.

It's the payback that's a b*tch.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/3/8/2308820/-Trump-renegs-on-student-loans?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

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