WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday struck down a Trump administration overhaul to a public service forgiveness program for student loans, ruling in favor of advocates who said the program risked becoming a tool for political retribution.
U.S. District Judge Myong Joun in Massachusetts vacated the U.S. Education Department's changes, saying they overstepped the agency's power and threatened to violate First Amendment protections for free speech. His ruling came a day before the new rules were set to take effect.
The ruling came in response to a pair of lawsuits filed by more than 20 states along with a coalition of nonprofit groups and cities. The Education Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Congress created Public Service Loan Forgiveness in 2007 to encourage college graduates to work in government and nonprofit jobs. It promised to forgive their federal student loans after they worked in public service jobs for 10 years.
Last year the Trump administration moved to add new eligibility rules that would strip the benefit from workers whose employers are deemed to have a "substantial illegal purpose."
The overhaul targeted nonprofits and government organizations that support causes at odds with the Trump administration's priorities.
It gave the education secretary power to exclude groups from the program if they engage in the trafficking or “chemical castration” of children, illegal immigration or supporting terrorist organizations. Its definition of "chemical castration” included using hormone therapy or drugs that delay puberty.
Joun said the new rules threatened to impose the administration's policy views on employers. The judge also faulted the department for failing to connect its definitions of illegal activity to criminal statutes.
“The Department cannot create new criminal prohibitions through rulemaking,” he wrote.
The judge also questioned the department's stated rationale for proposing the new rules, drawing on its own estimates that fewer than 10 employers would be barred from the program per year.
“The Department offers no explanation for why a Final Rule with such sweeping consequences is necessary to address the possibility that, at most, ten employers each year may be engaging in illegal activity,” Joun wrote.
The overhaul amounted to a major reworking of a program that has canceled loans for more than 1 million Americans. Nonprofits and government groups said it undercut an important benefit that helped attract college graduates to jobs that traditionally pay lower than the private sector.
In his ruling, Joun noted that more than 100 supporting briefs were filed on behalf of the groups challenging the rules, while none were filed supporting the Trump administration's change.
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FILE - The U.S. Department of Education building is seen in Washington, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
National Public Radio on Tuesday reported, then quickly retracted, that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was retiring — a mistake by its veteran court reporter that prompted an apology from the news organization's executive editor and an entire column by its public editor explaining what happened and how.
NPR attributed the miscue by reporter Nina Totenberg, on the final day of the court's session, to a “misunderstanding” of a statement by Chief Justice John Roberts that led to previously prepared copy being posted live. The news was also broadcast on NPR. It was live on the organization's website for about five minutes, though some member stations had it up longer, NPR said.
NPR said it pulled the story after the Supreme Court’s public information office denied the report earlier Tuesday.
An editor's note posted by some NPR affiliates said: “Earlier today, we erroneously published a story saying that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was retiring. Neither Alito nor the court’s public information office has announced his retirement, and we have retracted the story.”
Later, a statement from Editor-in-Chief Tommy Evans said NPR regretted the error and the confusion it may have caused. “Due to a misunderstanding, NPR’s Supreme Court and Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg incorrectly reported that Justice Samuel Alito had retired. Neither Justice Alito nor the Supreme Court Public Information Office has announced his retirement,” Evans said.
“As soon as the error was realized, the story was retracted and removed from NPR’s website and an on-air correction was broadcast. We regret the error and any confusion this may have caused,” Evans said.
He added that Totenberg would address the issue on Tuesday’s edition of “All Things Considered,” and that she had reached out to Alito to apologize.
According to a column by NPR's public editor, Kelly McBride, Totenberg “misheard an announcement” about retirements and reported on it, causing the organization to post some previously written “preparedness” — copy that news organizations often prepare in advance of major expected events and notable deaths.
"Alito is not retiring. The story was wrong. Here’s how it happened," McBride said in her column. "Totenberg misheard Roberts’ statement."
McBride continued: “Totenberg spoke with both her intern, who was at the court with her, and NPR Executive Editor Krishnadev Calamur and told them what she heard. Calamur surfaced the story that NPR had previously prepared for the day Alito did announce his retirement and published it. The information was also broadcast on NPR’s airwaves.”
On a busy day for the court, Roberts had announced the retirement of several court employees, as he customarily does after the court’s final opinions are out. But Alito's name was not among them.
Speculation had swirled about the justice’s future plans earlier this year, but Fox News and CBS reported this spring that he planned to remain on the bench.
Alito has been on the court since 2006, when he replaced Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. He was nominated by President George W. Bush, a Republican.
McBride, in her column, said she didn't expect the mistake to endure in the public consciousness.
For most news consumers, the error is a blip, something that flashed across their feed or they heard on their radio," she wrote. “It was corrected quickly and will not have lasting consequences.”
FILE - Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito attends Pope Leo XIV's audience for operators of justice in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sept. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)
