The U.S. Department of Education filed to push back deadlines in the Sweet v. McMahon settlement, seeking an 18‑month extension to decide borrower‑defense claims tied to the 2022 settlement. The move would delay automatic relief or final decisions for hundreds of thousands of former for‑profit college students originally promised timely rulings or automatic debt relief by Jan. 28. Advocates representing borrowers urged the court to reject the request, saying the department must honour its commitments. The department has said capacity constraints make a later deadline necessary; the extension would reshape immediate fiscal exposure for both the agency and institutions named in class claims.