{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/padilla-schiff-costa-lofgren-tran-california-democratic-delegation-criticize-education-departments-diversion-of-funding-for-minority-serving-institutions/", "Padilla, Schiff, Costa, Lofgren, Tran, California Democratic Delegation Criticize Education Department\u2019s Diversion of Funding for Minority-Serving Institutions", "2025-11-03", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "CA", "Alex Padilla", "P000145", "www.padilla.senate.gov", "padilla", "https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla, chair of the Senate Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Caucus, and Adam Schiff (both D-Calif.), along with U.S. Representatives Jim Costa (D-Calif.-21), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.-18), and Derek Tran (D-Calif.-45), led 34 members of the California Democratic Congressional Delegation in strongly opposing the Department of Education\u2019s decision to rescind $350 million in funding from Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs).\n\nThe lawmakers voiced their disappointment and disagreement with the Department of Justice\u2019s July 25th determination that Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) apply \u201cracial quotas\u201d in a manner that is \u201cunconstitutional,\u201d especially since no court has found the MSI program unconstitutional or instructed the Department of Education to reprogram this funding. The signatories also warned that the Department\u2019s actions would disproportionately harm Californian students and weaken California\u2019s \u2014 and America\u2019s \u2014 long-term competitiveness.\n\n\u201cTo be clear, diverting resources away from these schools will disproportionately harm California students and students across the nation who depend on MSIs as the most accessible and affordable pathway to a degree,\u201d wrote the lawmakers. \u201cIt would also weaken proven engines of upward mobility, deprive our workforce of diverse talent, and undercut the nation\u2019s long-term competitiveness.\u201d\n\n\u201cRather than reallocate scarce dollars from MSIs to HBCUs and TCCUs, we urge you to allocate funding as intended by Congress to support all MSIs, HBCUs, and TCCUs. \u2026 Equitable, sustained funding across the spectrum of MSIs, HBCUs, and TCCUs will ensure that more institutions can continue broadening opportunity, reducing inequities, and powering the American economy,\u201d continued the lawmakers. \u201cOur collective goal must be to invest in all students, no matter which institution they attend.\u201d\n\nThere are over 800 federally recognized MSIs, including Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions (ANNHSIs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), Native American Serving Non-Tribal Institutions (NASNTIs), and Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs). MSIs enroll over 5 million students, many of whom are first-generation college students. These institutions rely on federal funding to provide vital supports and services for students to help them complete their degrees. The Trump Administration\u2019s decision to end funding for MSIs could threaten the institutions\u2019 ability to adequately serve all the students they enroll.\n\nEarlier this year, Tennessee filed a lawsuit against the Department of Education to challenge the eligibility requirements necessary to receive a federal HSI designation. In July, the Department of Justice decided to not defend the constitutionality of the program in the ongoing litigation. Despite no ruling or court instructions, the Department of Education announced during HSI week on September 10th that it would end and reprogram $350 million in discretionary grants for HSIs and other MSIs. On October 10, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee allowed the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) and LatinoJustice Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (LatinoJustice PRLDEF) to intervene in the litigation, ensuring affected campuses can help defend the programs.\n\nCalifornia has the largest concentration of MSIs in the country. The state is home to 170+ HSIs and 85 eligible AANAPISIs. In addition, MSIs enroll the majority of first-generation and low-income students in California and consistently demonstrate higher rates of economic mobility than non-MSI institutions. The Department of Education\u2019s decision to reprogram funding from the MSI program undermines the ability of these universities to serve communities that have long been underrepresented in higher education.\n\nIn addition to Padilla, Schiff, Costa, Lofgren, and Tran, the letter was also signed by Representatives Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.-33), Nanette Barrag\u00e1n (D-Calif.-44), Ami Bera (D-Calif.-06), Julia Brownley (D-Calif.-26), Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.-24), Judy Chu (D-Calif.-28), Gil Cisneros (D-Calif.-31), Lou Correa (D-Calif.-46), Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.-10), Laura Friedman (D-Calif.-30), John Garamendi (D-Calif.-08), Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.-34), Josh Harder (D-Calif.-09), Jared Huffman (D-Calif.-02), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.-51), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.-37), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.-17), Mike Levin (D-Calif.-49), Ted Lieu (D-Calif.-36), Doris Matsui (D-Calif.-07), Dave Min (D-Calif.-47), Kevin Mullin (D-Calif.-15), Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.-19), Scott Peters (D-Calif.-50), Luz Rivas (D-Calif.-29), Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.-25), Linda S\u00e1nchez (D-Calif.-38), Lateefah Simon (D-Calif.-12), Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.-14), Mark Takano (D-Calif.-39), Mike Thompson (D-Calif.-04), Norma Torres (D-Calif.-35), Juan Vargas (D-Calif.-52), and George Whitesides (D-Calif.-27).\n\nAs chair of the Senate HSI Caucus, Senator Padilla has led the fight opposing the Trump Administration\u2019s attacks against MSIs. Last month, Senators Padilla, Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-N.M.), and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), alongside 21 Senate colleagues, demanded Education Secretary Linda McMahon immediately reverse course on the Trump Administration\u2019s harmful decision to end $350 million for MSIs. In September, Padilla and U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro (D-Texas-20), co-chair of the House HSI Caucus, issued a statement slamming this decision. Additionally, Padilla and Castro previously condemned the Trump Administration\u2019s letter declaring that they will no longer defend the $350 million HSI annual grant program in court, effectively ending the program.\n\nFull text of the letter is available here and below:\n\nDear Secretary McMahon,\n\nAs members of the California Congressional Delegation, we write to express our strong opposition to the Department of Education\u2019s (EDs) decision to rescind federal resources from Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) \u2013 including Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions (ANNHSIs), Native American Serving Non-Tribal Institutions (NASNTIs), and Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs).\n\nCalifornia is home to the largest concentration of MSIs in the country. Our state has 85 eligible AANAPISIs, serving large numbers of Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander students, as well as more than 170 HSIs, educating nearly two million students of all backgrounds. For example, twenty-one of twenty-two California State University campuses are federally designated HSIs, and five University of California campuses have reached HSI status. California\u2019s community colleges \u2013 our primary access point to higher education \u2013 are overwhelmingly HSIs, with over 90 percent already meeting the federal threshold. Collectively, MSIs enroll the majority of first-generation and low-income students in California and consistently demonstrate higher rates of economic mobility than non-MSI institutions. The Department\u2019s decision to reprogram funding from the MSI program undermines the ability of these universities to serve communities that have long been underrepresented in higher education.\n\nWe are disappointed in and disagree with the Department of Justice\u2019s July 25th determination that HSIs apply \u201cracial quotas\u201d in a manner that is \u201cunconstitutional.\u201d No court has found the MSI program unconstitutional, nor has a court instructed the Department of Education to reprogram this funding. We note that on October 10, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee granted Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) and LatinoJustice PRLDEF the right to intervene in Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. U.S. Department of Education, ensuring that affected institutions have a voice in defending these programs. To be clear, diverting resources away from these schools will disproportionately harm California students and students across the nation who depend on MSIs as the most accessible and affordable pathway to a degree. It would also weaken proven engines of upward mobility, deprive our workforce of diverse talent, and undercut the nation\u2019s long-term competitiveness.\n\nRather than reallocate scarce dollars from MSIs to HBCUs and TCCUs, we urge you to allocate funding as intended by Congress to support all MSIs, HBCUs, and TCCUs. We are encouraged that affected institutions can now participate in the judicial process to ensure these programs are fully and fairly defended. In light of these developments, we would welcome the opportunity to work with the administration to increase investments in MSIs, HBCUS, and TCCUs. Equitable, sustained funding across the spectrum of MSIs, HBCUs, and TCCUs will ensure that more institutions can continue broadening opportunity, reducing inequities, and powering the American economy. Our collective goal must be to invest in all students, no matter which institution they attend.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/padilla-schiff-costa-lofgren-tran-california-democratic-delegation-criticize-education-departments-diversion-of-funding-for-minority-serving-institutions/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7464690133929253, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}