Action Alert: Write Congress to oppose $70M rescission of Department of Education international funding

action alert

On September 24th, 2026, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) sent a legislative request asking Congress to rescind nearly $70 million in federally appropriated FY26 funds for Department of Education international education programs, known as Title VI. While these rescissions do not impact Department of State international exchange programs, rescinding these funds will have a significant negative impact on the United States’ ability to compete globally and prepare our students to succeed on the world stage.  

Title VI programs award grants to U.S. colleges and universities to build our national capacity in foreign languages and international studies. These programs build the U.S.’ global expertise by helping to develop a pool of experts in foreign languages, area studies, and international relations to address U.S. economic, diplomatic, and security priorities. Title VI supports instruction and resources in strategic foreign languages that are critical to national security and less commonly taught in U.S. universities. The program elevates the global competence of American students, who go on to support U.S. competitiveness in international business and industry. 

Contact your Senators and Representative today through the Joint National Committee for Languages’ (JNCL-NCLIS) call to action and tell them you oppose the rescission of these critical international education funds that support U.S. students and universities.  

Background and responses

Prior to the end of the fiscal year, an active solicitation for these Title VI funds, under the newly named “Centers Aligned with Areas for National Need (CAANN) Program,” was underway.  

This rescissions request puts all of that in jeopardy. The fact that the request was introduced so close to the end of the fiscal year and Congress is out of session until mid-November made it so they were unable to take any legislative action on the rescission request.  

Despite this, there has already been a flurry of legislative and legal pushback. Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle objected to this “pocket rescission.” Senate Democrats introduced a bill to invalidate the rescission request, trying to expedite passage through a unanimous consent agreement, though that effort was blocked on the Senate floor. Almost simultaneously, seven state attorneys general filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Northern California objecting to the rescission of Title VI funds and the funds from the other programs included in the rescission request.  

While the resolution of this matter is unclear, our commitment to supporting Department of Education international programs is not. The Alliance will continue to track it closely and support our colleagues at JNCL-NCLIS and beyond in their work to advocate against this rescission.