Education Secretary Betsy DeVos had taken actions to delay Obama-era regulations governing loan forgiveness for defrauded borrowers. | Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images Judge rules DeVos delay of Obama-era student loan rules ‘unlawful’

A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ various delays of Obama-era regulations governing loan forgiveness for defrauded borrowers were illegal.

U.S. District Court Judge Randolph Moss sided with consumer advocates and Democratic attorneys general from 19 states and the District of Columbia who had challenged the Trump administration’s postponement of the regulations, which are known as “borrower defense to repayment.”


DeVos had taken actions to delay those rules until July 1, 2019, in order to give the Education Department enough time to rewrite them. But in a sweeping 57-page decision, the judge ruled that DeVos’ actions were “unlawful”, “procedurally invalid” and “arbitrary and capricious.”

The final delay of the regulations, the court ruled, was “procedurally defective” because DeVos failed to conduct a negotiated rulemaking on whether to postpone the rules.

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Moss, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, did not immediately order the Education Department to take any action. He said that he would rule on how to proceed in the case after a hearing at 10:30 a.m. on Friday.

The ruling comes as the Trump administration has already published its proposed replacement for the Obama-era rules. The proposal would create a stricter standard for defrauded borrowers who seek to have their loans forgiven.

