Congressional Democrats and higher education advocates gathered outside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday to push back against the Trump administration's efforts to eliminate federal funding for minority-serving institutions, a category that includes more than 800 colleges and universities enrolling millions of students of color nationwide. U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii led the press conference, which drew students, institutional leaders, and fellow lawmakers.

The minority-serving institutions, commonly referred to as MSIs, include historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, tribal colleges, and other schools that serve students who are disproportionately from low-income households or are first-generation college students. Hirono argued the administration was using anti-discrimination policy as cover to cut access to higher education for underrepresented groups.

"Donald Trump is doing all he can basically to dismantle support for education in this country, and what is happening to minority-serving institutions is part of this all-out attack," Hirono said. She added that "millions of students" are currently being served by programs that the administration is moving to curtail.

Joining Hirono were Sen. Alex Padilla, chair of the Senate Hispanic-Serving Institutions Caucus; Rep. Mark Takano, first vice chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus; and Rep. Juan Vargas of California, a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, among others. The White House has not publicly responded to the press conference.

Montana is home to tribal colleges including Blackfeet Community College, Fort Peck Community College, and others that receive federal funding through programs that could be affected by the administration's proposed changes. How the cuts would be implemented — and whether Congress would act to block them — remained unclear as of late April.