By Chase Woodruff, Colorado Newsline
Posted November 6, 2025
Days after President Donald Trump’s administration finalized a rule to limit eligibility for a federal program offering student loan relief to public employees, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser joined 20 of his counterparts in other states in a lawsuit to block what he called an “appalling and illegal” effort to punish Democratic-led jurisdictions.
Today, we once again go to court because this administration is playing political games and taking lawless action. Holding back Public Service Loan Forgiveness is against the law, it’s wrong, and we’re going to stop it.”
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser
The new rule, finalized by the U.S. Department of Education on Oct. 30, attempts to give federal officials the authority to exclude certain state and local governments and nonprofits from the list of “qualifying employers” under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. Created in 2007, the PSLF program forgives the outstanding student loan debt of borrowers who have been employed as public servants for 10 years while making consistent payments.
“Today, we once again go to court because this administration is playing political games and taking lawless action,” Weiser, a Democrat, told reporters in a news conference alongside other state attorneys general Monday. “Holding back Public Service Loan Forgiveness is against the law, it’s wrong, and we’re going to stop it.”
Nearly 18,000 borrowers in Colorado benefited from the PSLF program from 2021 to 2024, according to Department of Education data, receiving a total of more than $1.2 billion in debt relief.
Under the department’s new rule, which implements an executive order signed by Trump in March, the secretary of Education would have the unilateral authority to “determine” that certain employers have a “substantial illegal purpose,” disqualifying their employees from PSLF relief. Activities in that category include “aiding or abetting violations of … federal immigration laws”; the “castration or mutilation of children”; and “engaging in a pattern of aiding and abetting illegal discrimination.”
In their lawsuit, filed Monday in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, the Democratic attorneys general called that list of activities a “plainly pretextual” attempt to punish and coerce Trump’s political adversaries.
“The only forms of ‘illegality’ named are a cherry-picked list of this administration’s most disfavored groups and activities, including support for immigrants, gender affirming care, diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and political protest,” the lawsuit says. “The Department seeks to chill the activities of public service employers by discouraging their employees from what it deems objectionable forms of public service.”
The suit argues that the executive branch lacks the authority to disqualify certain public employers from PSLF eligibility under the 2007 law establishing the program, which defined a “public service job” as any “full-time job in … government,” with the sole exception being elected members of Congress.
The rule is scheduled to go into effect on July 1, 2026.
The lawsuit filed Monday marks the 42nd time that Weiser, a two-term attorney general and a Democratic candidate for governor in 2026, has sued the federal government since Trump’s second presidential term began in January.
“I’m sorry to say — this administration is lawless, they are bullying, and we are forced again to bring basic legal challenges because this administration acts as if they’re above the law,” Weiser said. “They are not, and I know I speak for my colleagues when I say we will continue to fight for people to uphold promises made to them.”
Chase Woodruff is a senior reporter for Colorado Newsline. This article is republished from Colorado Newsline under a Creative Commons license. Colorado Newsline is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
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