A key House committee is moving forward with efforts to reform a federally funded scholarship program after extensive reporting from The College Fix uncovered the program’s overwhelming liberal bias.
The House Committee on Education and Workforce advanced New York Rep. Elise Stefanik’s Truman Scholarship Clean House Act, which could soon be brought before the committee for a final vote.
“Unfortunately, what started as a scholarship program to help cultivate our nation’s leaders has become a pipeline for liberal activists,” a committee spokesperson told the Daily Signal. “The Truman Foundation is receiving millions in taxpayer money, but it clearly promotes only one political viewpoint.”
“We hope to see leadership take this bill to the floor so we can correct this wrong and finally return the program to its intended mission,” the committee spokesperson added.
If enacted, Stefanik’s legislation would reform the taxpayer-funded scholarship by reshaping the scholarships board of directors while reforming their selection criteria and strategy.
“My legislation would finally reform the Truman Scholarship Foundation to promote an ideologically diverse class of recipients and ensure that only law-abiding students receive these scholarships,” Stefanik previously said in a statement to the Daily Signal.
Stefanik’s bill would also repeal and replace the scholarship’s current board of directors and executive secretary, allowing President Donald Trump to appoint new directors, who would then have to be confirmed by the Senate.
The bill would also require candidates to receive the approval of a supermajority of the board in order “to prevent highly biased individuals from serving as an interviewer.”
The scholarship began to attract attention after The College Fix uncovered that the taxpayer-funded program was riddled with liberal bias.
In December 2025, Associate Editor of The College Fix Jennifer Kabbany testified before the committee and noted that only 29 out of the 653 scholarship recipients from 2015 to 2025 had been conservative.
“The decade-long data reveals a taxpayer-funded program that, in practice, functions as a talent pipeline for the Democratic Party and liberal activist organizations,” Kabbany added during her testimony.
In a recent statement to the Daily Signal, a different committee spokesperson also described the scholarship as a “talent pipeline for the Democratic Party and liberal activist organizations.”
A recent analysis from The College Fix found that for 12 consecutive years, the majority of the scholarship’s recipients have overwhelmingly leaned left.
The College Fix added that 2026 scholarship winners have worked or interned for candidates and politicians such as former Vice President Kamala Harris, Sens. Chris Coons, D-Del., Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Rep. Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H., and Gov. Matt Meyer, D-Del.
Scholarship winners have also been involved with liberal organizations such as College Democrats, the Aspen Institute, Feminists of Color Collective, Rainbow Foster Home Initiative, Brennan Center for Justice, the Vermont Student Anti-Racism Network, and Revolución Violeta.
Another analysis from The College Fix found that 75% of the Truman Scholarship’s regional reviewers are Democrats, while just 13% are Republicans. When looking at just red states, the awards are still overwhelmingly given to progressive students, the analysis added.
