All twelve members of the board overseeing the Fulbright scholarship program have quit, accusing the Trump administration of improperly interfering with the program for political reasons.
The Fulbright Program is a long-running academic exchange initiative that funds U.S. students and scholars to study abroad, while also bringing international students, researchers, and artists to the U.S. It was created in 1946 by Congress to foster cultural exchange and global understanding, and is meant to be independent from political influence even though it operates within the State Department and receives government funding.
But according to the now-resigned board, Trump appointees at the State Department, under the leadership of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, began interfering in ways the board says violate the law. In a statement, they accused the administration of trying to take over decision-making, canceling nearly 200 awarded scholarships—mostly due to the subject matter of the proposed research—and reviewing over 1,200 awards for foreign scholars planning to study in the U.S.
The board said the administration’s actions undermined both the law and the spirit of the Fulbright program, which is supposed to promote academic freedom and international goodwill. They said that only the board has the legal right to decide who receives the scholarships, and accused the Trump team of “usurping” that authority.
This board, made up of members appointed by President Biden, also expressed concern over a major budget cut proposed by Rubio. His plan would slash funding for the Fulbright-affiliated bureau from \$691 million down to just \$50 million.
The State Department pushed back, calling the board members “partisan political appointees” and denying that the board has final authority over the program. A spokesperson accused them of creating a “political stunt” to make Trump look bad. The White House echoed this, saying President Trump not an independent board was elected to make foreign policy decisions in America’s national interest.
Adding to the controversy is the man now overseeing the part of the State Department responsible for Fulbright: Darren Beattie. He was fired during Trump’s first term after it was revealed that he spoke at a white nationalist event. Despite this, Beattie was brought back earlier this year to help lead public diplomacy efforts under Rubio, despite his past support for far-right conspiracy theories.
The Fulbright board’s resignation is also happening against the backdrop of Trump’s broader crackdown on higher education. Since returning to office, Trump has gone after elite universities like Harvard, accusing them of liberal bias and failing to deal with antisemitism.
He has frozen billions of dollars in funding to Harvard and even tried to block the school from enrolling international students, although a judge stopped him. More recently, Rubio ordered a pause on new student visas while a new system to screen applicants’ social media is being developed.
The mass resignation of the Fulbright board is the latest sign of how tensions between politics and education have escalated under Trump’s second presidency.
