House Amendment Would End Fulbright Funding

An amendment to a House appropriations bill would eliminate funding for all cultural and educational exchange programs run by the U.S. Department of State, including the Fulbright and Critical Language Scholarships.

Representative Andy Biggs, a Republican from Arizona, introduced the amendment to the state department spending bill on Sept. 8. The bill and its amendments were debated on the house floor Monday, and discussion was tabled after multiple hours. 

Some of the educational exchange programs on the chopping block are more than half a century old, including the Fulbright, a popular grant program for postsecondary scholars to travel overseas and conduct a particular research project. 

The amendment was one in a series Biggs introduced this month; others would shut off funds for USAID’s capital investment fund, the National Endowment for Democracy and the U.S. Institute of Peace.