#rulemaking

#rulemaking

Student loan advocates and borrower protection groups across the country have spent much of the last five months preparing for a series of big changes Congress laid out regarding the student loan system. From limiting the amount students and families can borrow to cutting the number of repayment plans they'll have to choose from, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is one of the more significant overhauls to federal student aid in decades.

We blogged on these decisions here, here, here, here, and here. On October 17, 2025, newly appointed Director Squires issued an open letter and memorandum to the public and to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (Board), taking back authority previously delegated to the Board to decide whether to institute an IPR or PGR proceeding on the merits. Now, the Director will issue summary notices on whether to institute proceedings.

The Education Department's current rule-making session, in which committee members are determining how to implement new student loan policies, will be delayed by two weeks if Congress fails to pass legislation to keep the government open, Trump officials announced Monday morning. "There is the possibility-which seems to be growing by the hour-of a lapse in appropriations," one department official said during the rule-making session's commencement Monday. "Have no fear, however," he added, "we do have a contingency plan for that."

My wife and I, our son and daughter, and my in-laws share a single house in the Long Island suburbs. Our place is big, but crowded: all of us have hobbies, and so every shelf or surface contains toys, books, art supplies, sporting goods, craft projects, cameras, musical instruments, or kitchen gadgets. Before the table can be set for dinner, it must be cleared of a board game or marble run.

The statutory language, 'shall issue,' mandates a separate preliminary analysis for public review and comment 'in any case' where the Commission issues a notice of proposed rulemaking and the $100 million threshold is surpassed.