U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, Democrat of Hawaii, holds a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., April 22, 2026. (Photo by Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON – Congressional Democrats, advocates, students and leaders on Wednesday sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s administration’s attempts to defund institutions serving minorities in higher education.
U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono led a news conference outside the Capitol in which she called on the administration to fully fund and protect the more than 800 minority-serving institutions, or MSIs, that educate millions of students of color. Many of them come from low-income households or are the first in their family to attend college.
“Donald Trump is doing everything in his power to dismantle support for education in this country, and what is happening to institutions that serve minorities is part of that all-out attack,” the Hawaii Democrat said.
“Under the false pretense of fighting discrimination, this regime restricts access to higher education for underserved and underrepresented groups, and millions of students are targeted by these programs,” she added.
In addition to supporters, leaders and students, Hirono was joined by other Democrats: Sen. Alex Padilla, chairman of the Senate Latino Serving Institutions Caucus; Rep. Mark Takano, first vice chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus; Representative Juan Vargas of California of the Congressional Latino Caucus; and Representative Danny Davis of Illinois of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Padilla, D-Calif., said MSIs “better train the future leaders, entrepreneurs (and) workers” that communities need.
“This is what we stand for. This is what we are fighting for, and (why) we are calling on our Republican colleagues to join us, push back against the threats from this administration and maintain our decades-long steadfast support of institutions that serve minorities in the interests of these young people, their families, their communities and our country.”
Takano, also from California, said: “Congress funded these programs and we will fight for them, and they cannot confiscate the funds.”
He added that “Congress has power of the purse, and we will make sure we hold this administration accountable.”
Programs called ‘racially discriminatory’
Trump, who has sought to end diversity, equity and inclusion policies in schools, has proposed eliminating funding for minority-serving institutions for a total of $354 million as part of his agenda. Budget proposal for 2027.
U.S. Department of Education in September gutted and reprogrammed for $350 million in discretionary funds supporting MSI, refuting claims that programs for Black, Asian, Native and Latinx students and more are “racially discriminatory.”
The agency soon moved to redirect $495 million in additional financing to historically black colleges and universities, as well as tribal colleges.
The Department of Justice in December, he issued an opinion declaring several grant programs for minority-serving institutions “unconstitutional.”
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon agreed with the opinion, and later that month the agency said it was “currently assessing the full impact” of the opinion on affected programs.
The president signed the bill in February spending package which funds the Department of Education with $79 billion this fiscal year and also “increases funding for all Title III and V programs that support HBCUs, Latino-serving institutions, tribal colleges and other minority-serving institutions,” according to the Democratic Senate Appropriations Committee. abstract.
