On February 24, 2026, the National Women’s Law Center joined amicus briefs in two cases challenging the Department of Education’s Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) rule. The rule seeks to disqualify a range of employers from the PSLF program, which forgives borrowers’ federal student loan debt after ten years of public service work. Through the rule, the Department of Education claims sweeping authority to exclude any employers it deems to have a “substantial illegal purpose.” Its definition of this term specifically targets organizations whose missions do not align with the administration’s political agenda, including organizations with activities related to supporting immigrants, providing health care to transgender youth, and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The amicus briefs support motions for summary judgment in two challenges to this rule: National Council of Nonprofits v. McMahon in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts and Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights v. Department of Education in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Filed on behalf of organizations advocating for LGBTQ+ equality, the amicus briefs argue that the provision targeting transgender youth’s health care providers fails on two bases. First, the Department of Education has no statutory authority to disqualify employers based on its own medical judgments or its interpretation of laws governing the practice of medicine. Second, this provision cannot survive constitutional scrutiny: It is a product of animus against transgender people, designed to stigmatize and harm them and to further the Trump administration’s coordinated attack on their rights.

The amicus brief in National Council of Nonprofits v. McMahon can be found here. The brief in Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights v. Department of Education can be found here.