Randi Weingarten
The 1.8 million-member teachers union claims that three weeks ago, education officials under the Trump administration removed application forms for income-driven repayment (IDR) plans from the department's website and secretly ordered loan servicers to halt all processing, effectively breaking the student loan system and violating federal law.
“By effectively freezing the nation's student loan system, the new administration seems intent on making life harder for working people, including for millions of borrowers who have taken on student debt so they can go to college,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten “The former president tried to fix the system for 45 million Americans, but the new president is breaking it again.”
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., seeks a court order to restore borrowers' access to IDR plans and Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). The union is represented by the Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC) and Berger Montague PC.
Education Department officials have justified the sweeping action as a response to a February 18 decision by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals regarding the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) repayment plan. However, critics argue the department has interpreted the ruling far too broadly, affecting multiple repayment programs that were created through bipartisan legislation dating back to 1992.
“Student loan borrowers are desperate for help, struggling to keep up with spiking monthly payments in a sinking economy, all while President Trump plays politics with the student loan system,” said Mike Pierce, SBPC Executive Director. “Borrowers have a legal right to payments they can afford and today we are demanding that these rights are enforced by a federal judge.”
The department's decision has reportedly created chaos for student loan servicing, leaving more than one million borrowers in an application backlog with no guidance on when their cases might be processed or when they might see relief. Many borrowers have reported sudden increases in their monthly payment amounts.
