The Radical Reading Room

The Trump administration has abandoned its appeal of a federal ruling that struck down a Department of Education rule governing Public Service Loan Forgiveness employer eligibility. According to NASFAA’s litigation tracker, the department’s appeal is now marked closed and the district court’s vacatur remains in effect. The operative event occurred on Oct. 23, 2026; this article is being published later, on Oct. 26, 2026. ([nasfaa.org](https://www.nasfaa.org/litigation?utm_source=openai))

The case challenged a final rule issued by the Education Department on Oct. 31, 2025, that would have changed the definition of a qualifying employer for PSLF by excluding organizations found to have a “substantial illegal purpose.” In a June 30, 2026 decision, Judge Myong J. Joun vacated the rule, and NASFAA reported that the court ruled for the plaintiffs on all counts. The appeal was the administration’s effort to overturn that outcome; withdrawing it leaves the district court judgment undisturbed. ([mass.gov](https://www.mass.gov/doc/pslf-complaint/download?utm_source=openai))

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and other state plaintiffs had argued the rule was unlawful and would improperly narrow access to PSLF for public workers employed by certain organizations. That was the theory pressed in the lawsuit, not a finding by the court on the administration’s motives. With the appeal withdrawn, the immediate legal fight in this case is over unless the government takes some new action in a separate proceeding. ([nasfaa.org](https://www.nasfaa.org/litigation?utm_source=openai))