Lessons Learned: The First 100 Days of the Second Trump Administration
International exchange programs make America “safer, stronger, and more prosperous.” This has been an Alliance refrain since Secretary of State Marco Rubio first coined the phrase during his Senate confirmation hearing on January 15. It has fueled our advocacy over the past 100 days as we’ve worked to thaw a funding freeze, navigated Executive Orders and leaked memos impacting exchanges, prepared for expected proposed cuts to ECA funding, and so much more.
Below are four lessons from the past 100 days that we at the Alliance are reflecting on to inform our advocacy efforts going forward.
Lesson 1: Patience, Patience, Patience. With so many threats facing exchanges during the first 100 days, we’ve prioritized gathering the information and support we need to ensure we’re most effective when we act. A perfect example of this was our advocacy efforts on the ECA funding freeze. You can read more about this effort here.
Lesson 2: [Information] Sharing is Caring. Information, the receiving and sharing of it, has been fundamental to our advocacy work over the past 100 days. The more people are aware of the threats facing international exchange programs, the more they can make their voices heard and make positive change. Over 25,000 letters were sent to Congress through our ECA funding freeze campaign, ultimately leading to the flow of funding to exchange implementing partners.
Lesson 3: The Power of Coalitions. Our ability to partner with fellow coalitions throughout these 100 days has amplified our impact on the issues we engage in daily. We are especially grateful to our colleagues at The Forum on Education Abroad, NAFSA, and the U.S. for Success Coalition for their collaboration in advocating against the ECA funding freeze and on behalf of international students and scholars.
Lesson 4: The Process Still Exists. Despite so much uncertainty, the Alliance is continuing to engage in the appropriations process to ensure strong support for international exchange programs within Congress. We’ve submitted 132 exchange funding appropriations requests and are meeting key House and Senate leadership to make the case for exchanges.
We are deeply grateful for all those who have collaborated with us over the past 100 days to promote and protect international exchange programs. Special thanks go to our members, supporters, fellow associations, and all those exchange champions that made their voices heard on behalf of exchanges.
