The ruling is in response to a lawsuit by the National Education Association and the California Teachers Association against Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and the department. It alleged the agency’s failure to conduct a negotiated rulemaking session prior to delaying the Obama-era rules — instead of many months after — violated the Higher Education Act, and that the rules should be implemented immediately.
The department, however, said it had the required “good cause” to forgo negotiated rulemaking, arguing it was not feasible to undergo that process and come up with a final rule prior to July 2018.
