If
you
weren’t
already
super
psyched
for
the
Big
Beautiful
Bill
borrowing
caps
making
law
school
unaffordable
for
many,
get
ready
to
learn
that
most
lawyerly
public
service
is
no
longer
getting
loan
forgiveness.
Because
public
service
itself
is
going
to
“illegal.”
The
Trump
administration’s
ongoing
war
on
the
legal
profession
continues
with
the
Department
of
Education
releasing
its
finalized
Public
Service
Loan
Forgiveness
rule
—
a
process
kicked
off
in
March
when
Trump
issued
his
Restoring
Public
Service
Loan
Forgiveness
Executive
Order
— and
while
its
impact
will
be
felt
across
education,
the
new
rule
is
especially
brutal
for
law
school
graduates,
with
the
DOE
cutting
off
forgiveness
to
those
causes
it
deems
to
be
supporting
“illegal
activity.”
And,
if
you
hadn’t
already
guessed
what
it
means
to
support
“illegal”
activity
in
this
regime,
they
mean
jobs
like
“representing
immigrants”
and
“advocating
for
transgender
rights.”
“Taxpayer
funds
should
never
directly
or
indirectly
subsidize
illegal
activity,”
Under
Secretary
of
Education
Nicholas
Kent
said,
a
reasonable
premise
if
directed
at
graduates
aspiring
to
become
a
mob
consigliere.
As
it
happens,
that’s
not
the
sort
of
“illegal
activity”
Kent’s
talking
about.
“The
Public
Service
Loan
Forgiveness
program
was
meant
to
support
Americans
who
dedicate
their
careers
to
public
service
–
not
to
subsidize
organizations
that
violate
the
law,
whether
by
harboring
illegal
immigrants
or
performing
prohibited
medical
procedures
that
attempt
to
transition
children
away
from
their
biological
sex.”
By
this,
he
means
representing
people
in
immigration
proceedings.
His
remark
about
transgender
care
is
directed
at
medical
school
grads,
but
the
language
of
the
final
rule
would
cover
any
organization
that
provides
legal
aid
to
trans
folks.
The
final
rule
knocked
down
objections
that
giving
the
Education
Secretary
unilateral
authority
to
decide
if
a
public
service
is
“illegal”
would
be
unconstitutionally
vague.
By
the
DOE’s
account,
the
definition
is
clear.
Behold…
the
definition:
(i)
aiding
or
abetting
violations
of
8
U.S.C.
1325
or
other
Federal
immigration
laws;
(ii)
Supporting
terrorism,
including
by
facilitating
funding
to,
or
the
operations
of,
cartels
designated
as
Foreign
Terrorist
Organizations
consistent
with
8
U.S.C.
1189,
or
by
engaging
in
violence
for
the
purpose
of
obstructing
or
influencing
Federal
Government
policy;
(iii)
Engaging
in
the
chemical
and
surgical
castration
or
mutilation
of
children
in
violation
of
Federal
or
State
law;
(iv)
Engaging
in
the
trafficking
of
children
to
another
State
for
purposes
of
emancipation
from
their
lawful
parents
in
violation
of
Federal
or
State
law;
(v)
Engaging
in
a
pattern
of
aiding
and
abetting
illegal
discrimination;
or
(vi)
Engaging
in
a
pattern
of
violating
State
laws
as
defined
in
paragraph
(b)(34)
of
this
section.
There’s
no
such
thing
as
a
public
service
coyote
operation,
so
that
first
prong
is
being
read
—
fairly
—
as
an
exclusion
aimed
at
organizations
providing
services
to
migrants
—
which
would
appear
to
include
representing
migrants.
Advocating
for
asylum
is
certainly
going
to
be
tagged
as
“aiding
and
abetting.”
Working
for
al
Qaeda
was
never
eligible
public
service
work,
but
the
new
rule
is
designed
to
expand
the
exclusion
to
groups
that
the
administration
decides
to
call
terrorists
or
cartel
members.
Since
this
administration
plans
to
designate
“Antifa”
as
a
terror
organization
and
can’t
figure
out
who
actually
belongs
to
a
cartel,
this
—
along
with
section
(vi),
which
lists
charges
often
(fairly
and
unfairly)
tacked
onto
protests
—
is
primed
as
a
catch-all
to
exclude
any
groups
that
represent
people
taking
direct
action.
The
“illegal
discrimination”
language,
as
we’ve
seen
with
the
administration’s
assault
on
universities,
is
meant
as
a
cudgel
for
any
group
with
a
diversity
plan
—
that’s
going
to
knock
out
pretty
much
any
public
service
organization
that
isn’t
already
covered
by
the
rest
of
the
definition.
As
one
would
expect,
the
Department
responds
with
feigned
shock
and
disbelief
to
the
idea
that
this
rule
is
a
rubber
band
designed
to
entangle
any
group
the
administration
considers
woke.
Business
Insider
notes
that
no
one’s
buying
that:
Advocates
for
student-loan
borrowers
criticized
the
final
rule
and
plan
to
take
legal
action.
In
a
joint
statement,
advocacy
groups
Democracy
Forward
and
Protect
Borrowers
said
the
rule
“is
a
direct
and
unlawful
attack
on
nurses,
teachers,
first
responders,
and
public
service
workers
across
the
country.”
The
worst
part
of
this
rotten
rule
is
that
it’s
designed
to
punish
those
who
are
already
underwater.
Lawyers
who
already
made
choices,
took
jobs,
or
even
moved
cities,
are
now
going
to
get
their
forgiveness
cut
off
because
representing
the
accused
now
counts
as
aiding
and
abetting
illegal
activity.
Because
kneecapping
the
institutions
protecting
the
powerless
is
a
key
pillar
of
the
administration’s
philosophy.
Undermining
the
rule
of
law
is
a
lot
easier
when
no
one’s
left
to
defend
it.
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter or
Bluesky
if
you’re
interested
in
law,
politics,
and
a
healthy
dose
of
college
sports
news.
Joe
also
serves
as
a
Managing
Director
at
RPN
Executive
Search.