Congressional Democrats Condemn MSI Funding Transfer

Dozens of congressional Democrats sharply criticized Education Secretary Linda McMahon in a letter sent Wednesday over her decision to reallocate millions in funding for minority-serving institutions to other grant programs. 

The lawmakers called on McMahon to restore the funding taken from Hispanic-serving institutions, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander–serving institutions, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian–serving institutions, Native American–serving nontribal Institutions, and predominantly Black institutions. Trump officials have argued that the grant programs that support these institutions are unconstitutional because they require colleges to enroll a certain percentage of students from a particular racial or ethnic background to qualify, among other criteria.

In fall 2025, the administration redirected millions from MSIs to historically Black colleges and universities as well as tribal colleges. Then, in September, the Education Department announced a “one-time” infusion of $235 million to HBCUs and tribal colleges—money that once again came from programs that generally funded Hispanic-serving and other minority-serving institutions.

“No court has found these programs that Congress has funded to be unconstitutional, and the administration’s mere belief that they are does not give it the necessary authority to spend those funds for any other purpose or program,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter. 

Sen. Mazie Hirono, a Democrat from Hawai‘i, spearheaded the letter, which was signed by 55 other lawmakers as of Wednesday afternoon. The letter notes that the lawmakers support additional funding for HBCUs and tribal colleges but not at the expense of other institutions.

“The law is clear,” the letter states. “Congress mandated that funds, with specific statutorily prescribed amounts, be provided for each grant program with specific statutorily defined purposes in each fiscal year.”