Complaint Against Linda McMahon, United States Department of Education. Filing Fees $ 405.00 Receipt Number AFLSDC-19364848, Filed by Jonathan Picard. (Attachments: # 1 Civil Cover Sheet, # 2 Summon (s) to Secretary McMahon, # 3 Summon (s) to U.S. Dept of Education, # 4 Summon (s) to U.S. Attorney General, # 5 Summon (s) to U.S. Attorney's Office)(Slater, James)
1The United States government, through the United States Department of Education (“the Department”), is the country’s largest creditor of student loans. Today, there are nearly 43 million federal student loan borrowers, with approximately $1.62 trillion outstanding in debt.
2Congress designed the federal student loan program to expand access to higher education and increase economic mobility regardless of one’s financial station. To accomplish this, clear and specific objectives exist for borrowers to have their loans forgiven without being hindered by the debt. Accordingly, among other programs, Congress established the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (“PSLF”) program, which allows student loan borrowers to have their federal student loans forgiven in exchange for the borrower dedicating ten years of their lives to working for qualifying public service employers and making 120 payments towards their student loans during 120 months of qualifying employment.
3For those borrowers enrolled in PSLF and who meet its requirements, loan forgiveness is mandatory. Notwithstanding this clear Congressional command, the Department has withheld public student loan forgiveness from Plaintiff Jonathan Picard (“Mr. Picard”) for several months after he should have been eligible for that forgiveness, depriving him of his statutory and contractual right to debt forgiveness.
4As a result of having his loan forgiveness withheld by the Department, Mr. Picard has had his financial future placed on indefinite hold as he remains burdened with a debt that he legally should no longer owe.
5Mr. Picard brings this lawsuit to compel the Department to abide by Congress’s command to make loan forgiveness available to him pursuant to the PSLF Program.
JURISDICTION AND VENUE
6This Court has subject matter jurisdiction over this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331 because it is a case arising under federal law: the Mandamus Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1361; the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”), 5 U.S.C. §§ 701-706; and the Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201(a) and 2202.
7Venue is proper in this District pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391(e) because Mr. Picard resides in West Palm Beach, Florida, and because a substantial part of the events giving rise to these claims occurred in this District.
PARTIES
8Mr. Picard is a 46-year-old non-profit civil rights attorney who, at all relevant times to this action, has resided in West Palm Beach, Florida. Mr. Picard has federal student loan debt, which qualifies for PSLF forgiveness.
9Defendant United States Department of Education (“Defendant Department”) is a federal agency with its principal place of business at 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. Defendant Department is responsible for administering federal student loan and grant programs in the United States.
10Defendant Linda McMahon is the Secretary of Education (“Secretary McMahon”). Mr. Picard sues Secretary McMahon in her official capacity. Secretary McMahon is charged with the supervision and management of all decisions and actions of the United States Department of Education, and so all allegations in this complaint against the Department of Education are also made against her.
FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS
11PSLF mandates federal student loan forgiveness to public service workers who have worked for ten years in eligible public service jobs while making eligible payments on their federal student loans. See 20 U.S.C. § 1087e(m)(1) (The Secretary of Education “shall cancel the balance of interest and principal due . . . on any eligible Federal Direct Loan” for a borrower who “has made 120” eligible “monthly payments on the eligible Federal Direct Loan after October 1, 2007” and “has been employed in a public service job during the period in which the borrower ma[de] each of the 120 payments.”).
12This directive is also included on a borrower’s initial master promissory note: “Under this program, we will forgive the remaining balance due on your Direct Loans after you have made 120 payments (after October 1, 2007) on those loans under certain repayment plan while you are employed full-time by a qualifying employer.”
13Mr. Picard has federal student loans, which qualify for the PSLF program. He has always made timely payments on these loans, and he has never been delinquent or defaulted on this debt.
14.
Since December 2015, Mr. Picard has worked for qualified employers under the
PSLF program, and the Department has certified them as qualified employers. Specifically, Mr. Picard worked for the State of Florida between December 2015 and July 2024. Then from July 2024 to the present, Mr. Picard has worked as a civil rights attorney for a qualifying 501(c)(3) non- profit organization.
15During all times relevant to this action, Mr. Picard was enrolled in qualifying income-contingent repayment (“ICR”) plans, and as of 2023 he was enrolled in the Revised Pay As You Earn (“REPAYE”) repayment plan.
16In 2023, Mr. Picard, along with all federal student loan borrowers in the REPAYE plan, was automatically enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education (“SAVE”) Plan.1 The SAVE Plan continued to be an eligible repayment plan for PSLF.
17Mr. Picard was on track to have his federal student loan debt forgiven in December of 2025.
18Then, in July 2024, Mr. Picard’s loans, which had been in the SAVE plan, were placed into administrative forbearance as a result of litigation over the legality of the SAVE plan (the “SAVE Litigation”).
19The SAVE Litigation does not impact the PSLF statute, regulations, or the Department’s contractual obligations with respect to PSLF.
20During the administrative forbearance, Mr. Picard was prevented from making PSLF-qualifying payments toward his loans for an entire year. During that time period, Mr. Picard 1 The Department renamed the REPAYE Plan to the SAVE Plan in July 2023 and made certain other changes to the program. See Improving Income Driven Repayment for the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program and the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program, 88 Fed. Reg. 43,820. submitted multiple applications to change to a different qualifying repayment plan in order to begin making qualifying payments again. However, he was repeatedly informed by customer service representatives for his loan servicer, MOHELA, that MOHELA had been instructed by the Department not to process applications to change repayment plans.
21In July 2025, Mr. Picard was finally permitted to move into a different qualifying repayment plan. In August 2025, the administrative forbearance was lifted from his account, and he was allowed to start making qualifying payments again.
22The Department has an established process for obtaining PSLF while under deferment or forbearance. Pursuant to 34 C.F.R. § 685.219(g)(6), a borrower participating in PSLF may obtain credit toward PSLF for those months the borrower was under deferment or forbearance and was employed full-time by a qualifying employer: “For any months in which a borrower postponed monthly payments under a deferment or forbearance and was employed full- time at a qualifying employer . . . the borrower may obtain credit toward forgiveness for those months . . . for any months in which the borrower . . . (i) Makes an additional payment equal to or greater than the amount they would have paid at that time on a qualifying repayment plan.” This process is alternatively described as the “Buyback” program.
23The Buyback program essentially requires borrowers who would have been eligible to have their loans forgiven but for a period of deferment or forbearance to submit a standard PSLF application and then request and receive reconsideration of that application pursuant to the Buyback program.
24A borrower who seeks and receives reconsideration through the Buyback program can receive loan forgiveness as long as they make a lump sum payment equal to or greater than the amount they would have paid as part of their qualifying repayment plan for those months they
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Public U.S. federal court record (district court docket 73109722, document 1). Source via the RECAP Archive (Free Law Project). The same record is available from PACER. Informational only — not legal advice.