By Caitlin Sievers | AZ Mirror
For the 29th time so far this year, Arizona is suing the Trump administration, this time to block the U.S. Department of Education from cancelling public service student loan forgiveness for employees of government agencies and organizations that help undocumented immigrants, promote diversity, equity and inclusion or take part in political protest.
“Public service should never be weaponized for political games,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a statement. “This rule undermines the very spirit of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and threatens workers who dedicate their careers to public service. I’m proud to join my fellow attorneys general in suing to block it.”
On Monday, Mayes joined a coalition of 21 other Democratic attorneys general in a lawsuit challenging the new rules from the U.S. Department of Education. The states asked a federal judge in Massachusetts to declare the rule unlawful and block the department from implementing it.
The rule, finalized Oct. 31, allows the department itself to decide that agencies or organizations are ineligible for student loan forgiveness if the Trump administration says they have a “substantial illegal purpose.” The rule is scheduled to go into effect in July 2026.
But the Department of Education’s description of an illegal purpose is based on its own ideological agenda, the attorneys general wrote.
