Donald Trump Is Thinking About Cutting Federal Funding For HBCUs As He Considers It’s Unconstitutional

On Friday, Donald Trump has recently given a few hints suggesting the fact that he may not implement the 25-year-old federal program. Such a program would provide assistance to historically black colleges.
During the signing statement surrounding the $1.1 trillion government spending bill, the president pointed out the Historically Black College and University Capital Financing Program as something that allocates “benefits on the basis of race, ethnicity, and gender.”
The program should help HBCUs finance construction projects regarding the campuses.
Trump stated that his administration would treat the issue “in a manner consistent with the requirement to afford equal protection of the law under the Due Process Clause of the Constitution’s Fifth Amendment.”
The statement which is being questioned outlines various provisions in the spending bill that claim that Trump’s authority as commander in chief would be “unconstitutionally” limited.
On the other hand, a White House spokesperson claims that Trump is only doing the same thing as his predecessors.
“President Trump has identified certain provisions in the appropriations bill that could, in some circumstances, conflict with his constitutional authority and duties. The brief, routine signing statement simply indicates that the president will interpret those provisions consistent with the Constitution,” the spokesperson argued.
“The important thing to realize is the president was able to secure big wins for his priorities in this spending bill, including more than $25 billion in additional funding for the military, $1.52 billion for border security, a permanent extension of health coverage for retired miners and a three-year extension of the D.C. school choice program,” the same spokesperson concluded.
Indeed, previously, Barack Obama and George W. Bush had also issued statements when signing the legislation. In some cases, those statements have indicated that they may ignore or disregard some parts of the laws passed by the Congress due to various reasons.