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U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos spoke at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland. (Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr/cc)
'Crushing Defeat' for DeVos as Federal Judge Rules She Illegally Delayed Relief for Students Defrauded by For-Profit Colleges
"This is a major victory for student borrowers and for anyone who cares about having a government that operates under the rule of law, instead of as a pawn of the for-profit college industry."
Sep 13, 2018
A Washington, D.C. federal judge has delivered a "crushing defeat" of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, ruling that the Trump-appointee illegally delayed Obama-era regulations to provide loan relief to students defrauded by for-profit colleges.
U.S. District Court Judge Randolph Moss, in a 57-page ruling (pdf) issued Wednesday, sided with consumer advocates and a coalition of 19 Democratic states attorneys general, determining that DeVos's actions to delay the borrower defense rule were "unlawful," "procedurally invalid," and "arbitrary and capricious."
In terms of DeVos's broader and deeply unpopular agenda for the Education Department, Politicocharacterized the decision as "the most significant legal setback to date for DeVos's efforts to dismantle the Obama administration's higher education policies."
\u201cBIG NEWS: We won our case against Betsy Devos for illegally delaying protections for students defrauded by predatory for-profit colleges. The judge called Devos' actions \u201cunlawful,\u201d \u201carbitrary and capricious\u201d and \u201cprocedurally invalid.\u201d https://t.co/4shqiocBsq\u201d— Public Citizen (@Public Citizen) 1536852311
"This is a major victory for student borrowers and for anyone who cares about having a government that operates under the rule of law, instead of as a pawn of the for-profit college industry," said Toby Merrill, director of Project on Predatory Student Lending, which partnered with Public Citizen and the states attorneys general to file suit on behalf of two former students at the for-profit New England Institute of Art (NEIA) in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey--who led the coalition of state attorneys general for the lawsuit--responding in a series of tweets, called the ruling "a total rejection of President [Donald] Trump and Betsy DeVos's agenda to cheat students and taxpayers."
"For years we've fought for needed protections for student borrowers. No matter what this administration throws at us, we will continue to stand up for students and families in Massachusetts," Healey added. "It is time for the #BorrowerDefenseRule to go into effect and give thousands of students the relief they've been waiting for."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)--who has spoken out against DeVos's attempts to delay the Obama-era rule and replace it with a policy that would "devastate students cheated by sham for-profit colleges"--celebrated the judge's decision on Twitter:
\u201cThis is a crushing defeat for @BetsyDeVosED, and a huge win for students who have been scammed by #4profit colleges. Way to go Maura!\u201d— Elizabeth Warren (@Elizabeth Warren) 1536796794
DeVos, in July, had unveiled her proposed re-write of the rule--which was immediately rejected by Healey, Warren, and consumer advocates. Public Citizen attorney Julie Murray, as Common Dreams reported, warned the proposal "would help predatory schools evade liability while cutting off federal loan relief to students who can ill afford it" and send a message to "predatory schools that crime pays."
While Judge Moss's Wednesday ruling did not include any directives for how the Education Department should proceed, all parties to the lawsuit are expected to return to the Washington, D.C. courthouse at 10:30am local time on Friday "to present oral argument regarding the appropriate remedies."
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A Washington, D.C. federal judge has delivered a "crushing defeat" of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, ruling that the Trump-appointee illegally delayed Obama-era regulations to provide loan relief to students defrauded by for-profit colleges.
U.S. District Court Judge Randolph Moss, in a 57-page ruling (pdf) issued Wednesday, sided with consumer advocates and a coalition of 19 Democratic states attorneys general, determining that DeVos's actions to delay the borrower defense rule were "unlawful," "procedurally invalid," and "arbitrary and capricious."
In terms of DeVos's broader and deeply unpopular agenda for the Education Department, Politicocharacterized the decision as "the most significant legal setback to date for DeVos's efforts to dismantle the Obama administration's higher education policies."
\u201cBIG NEWS: We won our case against Betsy Devos for illegally delaying protections for students defrauded by predatory for-profit colleges. The judge called Devos' actions \u201cunlawful,\u201d \u201carbitrary and capricious\u201d and \u201cprocedurally invalid.\u201d https://t.co/4shqiocBsq\u201d— Public Citizen (@Public Citizen) 1536852311
"This is a major victory for student borrowers and for anyone who cares about having a government that operates under the rule of law, instead of as a pawn of the for-profit college industry," said Toby Merrill, director of Project on Predatory Student Lending, which partnered with Public Citizen and the states attorneys general to file suit on behalf of two former students at the for-profit New England Institute of Art (NEIA) in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey--who led the coalition of state attorneys general for the lawsuit--responding in a series of tweets, called the ruling "a total rejection of President [Donald] Trump and Betsy DeVos's agenda to cheat students and taxpayers."
"For years we've fought for needed protections for student borrowers. No matter what this administration throws at us, we will continue to stand up for students and families in Massachusetts," Healey added. "It is time for the #BorrowerDefenseRule to go into effect and give thousands of students the relief they've been waiting for."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)--who has spoken out against DeVos's attempts to delay the Obama-era rule and replace it with a policy that would "devastate students cheated by sham for-profit colleges"--celebrated the judge's decision on Twitter:
\u201cThis is a crushing defeat for @BetsyDeVosED, and a huge win for students who have been scammed by #4profit colleges. Way to go Maura!\u201d— Elizabeth Warren (@Elizabeth Warren) 1536796794
DeVos, in July, had unveiled her proposed re-write of the rule--which was immediately rejected by Healey, Warren, and consumer advocates. Public Citizen attorney Julie Murray, as Common Dreams reported, warned the proposal "would help predatory schools evade liability while cutting off federal loan relief to students who can ill afford it" and send a message to "predatory schools that crime pays."
While Judge Moss's Wednesday ruling did not include any directives for how the Education Department should proceed, all parties to the lawsuit are expected to return to the Washington, D.C. courthouse at 10:30am local time on Friday "to present oral argument regarding the appropriate remedies."
A Washington, D.C. federal judge has delivered a "crushing defeat" of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, ruling that the Trump-appointee illegally delayed Obama-era regulations to provide loan relief to students defrauded by for-profit colleges.
U.S. District Court Judge Randolph Moss, in a 57-page ruling (pdf) issued Wednesday, sided with consumer advocates and a coalition of 19 Democratic states attorneys general, determining that DeVos's actions to delay the borrower defense rule were "unlawful," "procedurally invalid," and "arbitrary and capricious."
In terms of DeVos's broader and deeply unpopular agenda for the Education Department, Politicocharacterized the decision as "the most significant legal setback to date for DeVos's efforts to dismantle the Obama administration's higher education policies."
\u201cBIG NEWS: We won our case against Betsy Devos for illegally delaying protections for students defrauded by predatory for-profit colleges. The judge called Devos' actions \u201cunlawful,\u201d \u201carbitrary and capricious\u201d and \u201cprocedurally invalid.\u201d https://t.co/4shqiocBsq\u201d— Public Citizen (@Public Citizen) 1536852311
"This is a major victory for student borrowers and for anyone who cares about having a government that operates under the rule of law, instead of as a pawn of the for-profit college industry," said Toby Merrill, director of Project on Predatory Student Lending, which partnered with Public Citizen and the states attorneys general to file suit on behalf of two former students at the for-profit New England Institute of Art (NEIA) in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey--who led the coalition of state attorneys general for the lawsuit--responding in a series of tweets, called the ruling "a total rejection of President [Donald] Trump and Betsy DeVos's agenda to cheat students and taxpayers."
"For years we've fought for needed protections for student borrowers. No matter what this administration throws at us, we will continue to stand up for students and families in Massachusetts," Healey added. "It is time for the #BorrowerDefenseRule to go into effect and give thousands of students the relief they've been waiting for."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)--who has spoken out against DeVos's attempts to delay the Obama-era rule and replace it with a policy that would "devastate students cheated by sham for-profit colleges"--celebrated the judge's decision on Twitter:
\u201cThis is a crushing defeat for @BetsyDeVosED, and a huge win for students who have been scammed by #4profit colleges. Way to go Maura!\u201d— Elizabeth Warren (@Elizabeth Warren) 1536796794
DeVos, in July, had unveiled her proposed re-write of the rule--which was immediately rejected by Healey, Warren, and consumer advocates. Public Citizen attorney Julie Murray, as Common Dreams reported, warned the proposal "would help predatory schools evade liability while cutting off federal loan relief to students who can ill afford it" and send a message to "predatory schools that crime pays."
While Judge Moss's Wednesday ruling did not include any directives for how the Education Department should proceed, all parties to the lawsuit are expected to return to the Washington, D.C. courthouse at 10:30am local time on Friday "to present oral argument regarding the appropriate remedies."
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"Corporations get let off the hook, Musk gets insider information, and the American people get hosed."
Apr 04, 2025
The latest U.S. agency in the crosshairs of billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency is reportedly the Federal Trade Commission, an already-understaffed department tasked with preventing monopolistic practices and shielding consumers from corporate abuses.
Axios reported Friday that at least two DOGE staffers "now have offices at" the FTC. According to The Verge, two DOGE members "were spotted" at the agency's building this week and "are now listed in the FTC's internal directory."
The Verge noted that the FTC is "a fairly lean agency with fewer than 1,200 employees," a number that the Trump administration has already cut into with the firing of some of the department's consumer protection and antitrust staff.
At least two of Musk's companies, Tesla and X, have faced scrutiny in recent years from the FTC, which is now under the leadership of Trump appointee Andrew Ferguson, who previously pledged to roll back former chair Lina Khan's anti-monopoly legacy.
Emily Peterson-Cassin, corporate power director at the Demand Progress Education Fund, which referred to the operatives as Musk's "minions," said Friday that "DOGE is yet again raiding a federal watchdog tasked with protecting working Americans from Wall Street and Big Tech."
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After China announced new 34% tariffs on all American goods beginning next week, The Associated Press reported Friday that "the S&P 500 was down 4.8% in afternoon trading, after earlier dropping more than 5%, following its worst day since Covid wrecked the global economy in 2020. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1,719 points, or 4.3%, as of 1:08 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 4.9% lower."
Noting the state of Wall Street this week, Groundwork Collaborative executive director Lindsay Owens declared in a Friday statement that "Trump has officially brought the economy to its knees."
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Responding in a Thursday note titled, There Will Be Blood, head of global economic research Bruce Kasman and other experts at JPMorgan wrote that "if sustained, this year's ~22%-point tariff increase would be the largest U.S. tax hike since 1968."
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As Bloomberg reported:
Several Wall Street firms on Thursday warned of a U.S. recession, with some making it their base case, after... Trump announced major levies on goods imported from countries around the world. Other economists, including those at JPMorgan, said the hit could be big, though they are taking a wait-and-see approach before revising their projections.
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Other financial industry research firms that have recently warned of a possible recession include Barclays, BofA Global Research, Deutsche Bank, RBC Capital Markets, and UBS Global Wealth Management, according to Reuters.
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Trump and Musk "think this country belongs to them," according to a website for the Hands Off! events. "This is a nationwide mobilization to stop the most brazen power grab in modern history."
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The environmentalist iIll McKibben wrote on Bluesky on Wednesday: "Expect to see a lot of gray hair at the April 5 Hands Off rallies—we've been organizing like crazy at Third Act," a group that mobilizes Americans over the age of 60.
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